Airbag module-equipped seat, and method for mounting same

ABSTRACT

An airbag module-equipped seat in which the periphery of an attachment portion of a guide member that guides a deployment direction of an airbag has a compact size and the guide member can be attached easily while maintaining satisfactory deployment performance of the airbag. This seat includes an airbag module attached to a side frame, a guide member that guides a deployment direction of the airbag module, and an attachment member for attaching the guide member to the side frame. The side frame has an attachment hole for the attachment member at a position different from a shaft portion for attaching the airbag module. The attachment member has a holding space in which an end of the guide member is held in a detachable manner, and is inserted into the attachment hole in a state in which the end of the guide member is held in the holding space.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional application of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 15/410,335, filed Jan. 19, 2017, which is a divisionalapplication of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/758,214, filed Jun.26, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,598,040, which is the National Stage Entryapplication of PCT Application No. PCT/JP2013/084904, filed Dec. 26,2013, which claims the priority benefit of the following Japanese PatentApplications:

Japanese Patent App. No. Date Filed 2012-288619 Dec. 28, 20122012-288620 Dec. 28, 2012 2013-081097 Apr. 9, 2013 2013-087170 Apr. 18,2013 2013-147763 Jul. 16, 2013 2013-147764 Jul. 16, 2013 2013-161252Aug. 2, 2013the entire content of all being incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Disclosed herein is an airbag module-equipped seat, and particularly, anairbag module-equipped seat in which a guide member that guides adeployment direction of an airbag is attached to a side frame.

Conventionally, a seat in which an airbag module is attached to a sideframe of a seat back frame has been proposed as an airbagmodule-equipped seat. In this airbag module-equipped seat, respectiveterminals of a trim cover and terminals of one side of two stay clothesare sewn together to form a breaking portion of the trim cover. The twostay clothes are pulled toward the inner side of the trim cover from thebreaking portion to wrap the airbag module so that the entire seat backincluding the airbag module is covered with the trim cover (for example,see Japanese Patent Document No. 4543270 (“the '270 Document”)).

In the '270 Document, two listing wires are provided in a portion of theside frame on the opposite side of the airbag module to be entangled ina ring shape. The terminals of the two stay clothes pulled toward bothsides of the airbag module from the breaking portion are extended to thetwo listing wires to wrap the airbag module and are attached to thelisting wires.

According to the invention of the '270 Document, since the airbag modulecan be wrapped directly by the stay clothes and the stay clothes can bereliably pulled and attached to the listing wires provided at the stayclothes at the ends, the inflation pressure of the airbag can beefficiently concentrated on the sewn seam serving as the breakingportion of the trim cover by the stay clothes. Thus, satisfactorydeployment performance of the airbag can be obtained.

However, in the invention of the '270 Document, since the listing wiresare provided to be entangled in a ring shape, the structure of thelisting wires is complex and the attaching process is also complex.Moreover, since the listing wires are required to attach the stayclothes to the side frame, the size of the periphery of the side frameincreases. Thus, a more compact configuration is demanded.

Moreover, in the invention of the '270 Document, there is a concern thatthe stay cloth may make contact with the side frame at the periphery ofthe attachment position during normal usage or inflation of the airbag.

SUMMARY

Various embodiments of the present invention have been made in view ofthe problems of the conventional art, and an object thereof is toprovide an airbag module-equipped seat in which the periphery of anattachment portion of a guide member that guides a deployment directionof an airbag has a compact size and the guide member can be attachedeasily while maintaining satisfactory deployment performance of theairbag.

Another object is to provide an airbag module-equipped seat in which thecontact between a side frame and a guide member that guides thedeployment direction of an airbag is suppressed.

Still another object is to provide an airbag module-equipped seat inwhich an end of a stay cloth attached to an attachment member isrestricted from moving within a stay cloth attachment portion in anattachment member.

Still another object is to provide an airbag module-equipped seat whichis a vehicle seat in which a guide member that guides the deploymentdirection of a side airbag is sewn to a wedge portion of a skin materialand in which the sewn portion of the guide member is suppressed frombeing visible through the skin material and thus having an influence onthe appearance.

Still another object is to provide an airbag module-equipped seat whichis a vehicle seat having a side airbag only in one of a pair of rightand left side portions and in which an appearance of a wedge portion issuppressed from being bilaterally asymmetrical on a side in which aguide member that guides the deployment direction of the airbag is sewnand on a side in which the guide member is not sewn.

Still another object is to provide an attachment member to which a guidemember can be attached easily and an airbag module-equipped seat whichprevents an assembly error of an attachment member to provide highmanufacturing efficiency.

Still another object is to provide an airbag module-equipped seat inwhich the supporting rigidity of an attachment member between a seatframe and a guide member that guides the deployment direction of anairbag is improved.

Still another object is to provide an airbag module-equipped seat inwhich an attachment state of a guide member of the deployment directionof a side airbag module can be observed from a back surface side of aseat during assembling of an airbag module and the like.

Still another object is to provide a method for mounting an airbagmodule-equipped seat in which the workability of attaching a guidemember that guides the deployment direction of an airbag is improved.

The problems are solved by an airbag module-equipped seat according tovarious embodiments of the present invention. The airbag module-equippedseat is a seat having an airbag module for storing an airbag therein,including: a side frame that extends along a side portion of the seat;the airbag module attached to the side frame; a guide member that guidesa deployment direction of the airbag module; and an attachment memberfor attaching the guide member to the side frame, wherein the side framehas an attachment hole for the attachment member at a position differentfrom a shaft portion for attaching the airbag module, the attachmentmember has a holding space in which an end of the guide member is heldin a detachable manner, and the attachment member is inserted into theattachment hole in a state in which the end of the guide member is heldin the holding space.

In this regard, the attachment member has the holding space in which anend of the guide member is held in a detachable manner, and theattachment member is inserted into the attachment hole in a state inwhich the end of the guide member is held in the holding space. Thus,the guide member can be attached to the side frame side with a compactconfiguration.

In this case, the attachment hole may be formed in a position closer toa front side of the seat than the shaft portion.

Due to such a configuration, an outer-side guide member that is pulledtoward the rear side of the side frame from the breaking portion on theseat skin can be connected to the side frame side easily and withsatisfactory durability.

In this case, the attachment member may include a hole contactingportion having an outer shape following a shape of the attachment holeand a protruding portion that protrudes outward from the hole contactingportion, and at least a portion of the protruding portion may extendfrom the airbag module side toward the side frame side and may bepressed by another member.

Due to such a configuration, the supporting rigidity when tensile forceis applied to the guide member during deployment of the airbag modulecan be improved with a simple and compact configuration.

Moreover, the attachment member can be pressed toward the side frameside using an existing member of the airbag module side as the othermember. In this case, the supporting rigidity when tensile force isapplied to the guide member during deployment of the airbag module canbe improved with a small number of components.

In this case, the other member may press at least a portion of a regionof the attachment member surrounded by the attachment hole from theairbag module side.

Due to such a configuration, by pressing the region in which theattachment member and the side frame are connected from the airbagmodule side, it is possible to improve the supporting rigidity of theattachment member.

In this case, the end of the guide member may be disposed closer to aninner side of the seat than the side frame.

Due to such a configuration, the holding space that holds the end of theguide member does not protrude toward the airbag module side, and thereis less limitation on the attachment position of the attachment member.

In this case, the attachment member may include: a restricting portionconnected to the attachment hole to restrict movement of the attachmentmember from the attachment hole; and a planar protruding portion thatprotrudes from one end of the restricting portion, and at least aportion of the protruding portion may be sandwiched between the sideframe and the guide member.

Due to such a configuration, the movement of the attachment member fromthe attachment hole is restricted, and the fabric member can besuppressed from making contact with the frame.

In this case, the restricting portion may include at least an upper walland a lower wall that cover an upper side and a lower side of theholding space and make contact with an inner surface of the attachmenthole.

Due to such a configuration, the guide member held in the holding spacecan be suppressed from being removed from the upper end and the lowerend of the holding space during working or the like, and the movement ofthe attachment member in the up and down direction can be restricted.

In this case, the restricting portion may be formed by a continuous wallthat makes contact with an inner surface of the attachment hole, and thecontinuous wall may form the holding space therein.

Due to such a configuration, the guide member can be held in the holdingspace with the aid of the continuous wall and the movement of theattachment member from the attachment hole can be restricted. Thus, theattachment member can be formed in a compact size.

In this case, a partition wall that partitions the holding space into aplurality of divided spaces may be provided on an inner surface of thecontinuous wall, and the plurality of divided spaces may communicatewith each other to form a continuous passage for the guide member.

Due to such a configuration, the guide member can be passed through theplurality of divided spaces sequentially to be stored in the holdingspace, and the guide member can be rarely removed from the holdingspace.

In this case, the airbag module-equipped seat may further include a seatframe; a cushion pad supported by the seat frame; and a skin materialthat covers the airbag module and the cushion pad, wherein a pair ofterminals of the skin material may be attached to an end of the guidemember fixed to one of the pair of terminals to form a breaking portionthat serves as a starting point of breaking of the skin material duringdeployment of the airbag and faces the cushion pad, and contact pressurethat the cushion pad receives from the skin material and the guidemember in the breaking portion may be designed so that the contactpressure on the terminal to which the guide member is fixed is lowerthan the contact pressure on the terminal to which the guide member isnot fixed.

Even when the end of the guide member is fixed to only one of theterminals of the pair of skin materials, since the contact pressure thatthe cushion pad receives from the skin material and the guide member inthe breaking portion may be designed so that the contact pressure on theterminal to which the guide member is fixed is lower than the contactpressure on the terminal to which the guide member is not fixed, thebreaking portion on which the guide member is fixed will not protrudetoward the front surface of the skin material by the distancecorresponding to the guide member and will not be visible from theoutside. As a result, the appearances of the sewn portion of the pairskin materials on the side where the airbag module is provided and theside where the airbag module is not provided will not be different and amismatch in the right and left appearances can be suppressed.

In this case, the attachment member may be fitted into the attachmenthole, a misassembly suppressing portion may be provided to suppress anassembly error of assembling the attachment member with the attachmenthole, and the misassembly suppressing portion may be formed at least ina portion of the inner surface of the attachment hole that faces theattachment member or a portion of the attachment member that faces theinner surface of the attachment hole.

According to this configuration, when the attachment member is attachedto the attachment hole in a wrong direction, the portion of theattachment member facing the inner surface of the attachment holeinterferes with the inner surface of the attachment hole and theattachment member is not fitted into the attachment hole. Thus, anassembly error is prevented in advance. Thus, even when an operator doesnot check the direction of the attachment member, it is not necessary toreassemble the attachment member, and thus, it is easy to attach theattachment member to the attachment hole. Therefore, it is possible toprovide an airbag module-equipped seat which provides high manufacturingefficiency.

The side frame may include an attachment portion to which the attachmentmember is attached and a step formed to surround the attachment portion.

Due to such a configuration, it is possible to improve the supportingrigidity of the periphery of the attachment portion to which theattachment member is attached. Since the guide member that guides thedeployment direction of the airbag is attached to the attachment member,force is temporarily applied to the attachment member during inflationof the airbag. However, since a step is formed in the side frame tosurround the attachment portion, the force generated during inflation ofthe airbag can be stably received.

In this case, a region of the side frame surrounded by the step may forma recess that is depressed deeper toward an inner side in the seat widthdirection than other portions of the side frame.

Due to such a configuration, a portion of the attachment member can bereceived in the recess, and the attachment member can be disposed in acompact space.

In this case, the airbag module-equipped seat may further include: aseat back frame having the side frame; and a cushion pad mounted on theseat back frame, wherein at least a portion of the attachment member maybe exposed to a back surface of a front pad portion of the cushion padthat covers a front surface of the seat back frame and a regionsurrounded by a seat inner-side surface of the side frame.

Due to such a configuration, when seen from the rear side of the seatback frame in a state in which the cushion pad is mounted on the seatback frame, the attachment member can be observed from the back surfaceside of the seat back. Thus, whether the guide member and the attachmentmember are attached properly can be easily observed with the naked eyesduring attachment of the airbag module and the like.

In this case, a method for mounting the airbag module-equipped seataccording to an embodiment, wherein the airbag module-equipped seatfurther includes a seat back frame having the side frame, a cushion padmounted on the seat back frame, and a trim cover that covers the cushionpad, and one end of the guide member being fixed to a breaking portionwhich is formed more fragile than the other portions of the trim cover,and the other end being connected to the side frame, the method mayinclude: a guide member connecting procedure of connecting the other endof the guide member to the side frame; and an airbag module attachingprocedure of attaching the airbag module to the side frame.

This method includes the guide member connecting procedure of connectingthe other end of the guide member to the side frame, and the airbagmodule attaching procedure of attaching the airbag module to the sideframe. Thus, since the airbag module is attached after the other end ofthe guide member is connected to the side frame, the workability ofattaching the guide member is improved. That is, unlike the case ofattaching the airbag module first, the airbag module does not become anobstacle during attachment of the guide member, and thus, it is easy toattach the guide member.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments of the invention are illustrated in the followingdrawings:

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of an airbag module-equipped seataccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a seat frame of the airbagmodule-equipped seat according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A in FIG. 1 and is anexplanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a stay cloth isconnected to a side frame using an attachment member according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is an explanatory perspective view diagram illustrating a statein which a trim cover according to an embodiment of the presentinvention and a stay cloth are sewn together in a breaking portion;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the attachment member according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the attachment member according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a side view of the attachment member according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a bottom view of the attachment member according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a state inwhich a stay cloth is connected to a side frame using the attachmentmember according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 10 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a state inwhich a stay cloth is connected to a side frame using the attachmentmember according to an embodiment of the present invention andillustrates an example in which a method of attaching the stay cloth tothe attachment member is changed;

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A in FIG. 1 and is anexplanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a stay cloth isconnected to a side frame using an attachment member according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a state inwhich a stay cloth is connected to a side frame using an attachmentmember according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an explanatory perspective view diagram illustrating a statein which tensile force is applied to a stay cloth connected to a sideframe using an attachment member according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of a seat frame of a vehicle seataccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a perspective view illustrating a deployed state of anattachment member according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is a perspective view illustrating a deployed state of theattachment member according to an embodiment of the present inventionand is a view seen from another angle;

FIG. 17 is a perspective view illustrating a bent state of theattachment member according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 18 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a state inwhich a stay cloth is connected to a side frame using an attachmentmember according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 19 is an explanatory perspective view illustrating a state in whichan attachment member according to an embodiment of the present inventionis connected to a side frame;

FIG. 20 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A in FIG. 1;

FIG. 21 is an explanatory perspective view diagram illustrating a statein which a trim cover according to an embodiment of the presentinvention and a stay cloth are sewn together in a breaking portion;

FIG. 22 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a positionalrelation between a groove and a breaking portion according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 23 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a positionalrelation between a groove and a breaking portion according to a modifiedexample of the present invention;

FIG. 24 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a positionalrelation between a groove and a breaking portion according to anothermodified example of the present invention;

FIG. 25 is an explanatory cross-sectional view illustrating a positionalrelation between a groove and a breaking portion according to stillanother modified example of the present invention;

FIG. 26 is a perspective view of a seat frame of a vehicle seataccording to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional view along line B-B in FIG. 1 and anexplanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a stay cloth isconnected to a side frame using an attachment member according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 28 is an explanatory enlarged cross-sectional view of the peripheryof the attachment member illustrated in FIG. 27;

FIG. 29 is an explanatory side view diagram of a side frame according toan embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 30 is an explanatory side view diagram of a side frame according toanother embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 31 is an explanatory enlarged cross-sectional view of the peripheryof the attachment member illustrated in FIG. 27 according to anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 32 is a perspective view of a seat frame of an airbagmodule-equipped seat according to an embodiment of the presentinvention;

FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional view along line B-B in FIG. 1 and is anexplanatory diagram illustrating a state in which a stay cloth isconnected to a side frame using an attachment member according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 34 is an external perspective view of a cushion pad according to anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 35 is an explanatory diagram illustrating the rear surface of atrim cover according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 36 is a cross-sectional view along line A-A in FIG. 1 and is anexplanatory diagram illustrating a state in which an attachment memberis attached to a side frame according to another embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 37 is an explanatory perspective view diagram illustrating a statein which an upper end of a trim cover according to an embodiment of thepresent invention is put on an upper end surface of a cushion pad;

FIG. 38 is an explanatory front view diagram illustrating a state inwhich a trim cover is suspended above the front surface side of acushion pad;

FIG. 39 is an explanatory rear view diagram illustrating a state inwhich a trim cover is suspended above the back surface side of a cushionpad;

FIG. 40 is an explanatory side view diagram illustrating a state inwhich an attachment member is attached to a position above a side frame;

FIG. 41 is an explanatory front view illustrating a state in which atrim cover covers up to the central portion of a side frame;

FIG. 42 is an explanatory side view illustrating a state in which a trimcover covers up to the central portion of a side frame;

FIG. 43 is an explanatory side view illustrating a state in which anairbag module is disposed in a space formed in a lateral portion of acushion pad;

FIG. 44 is an explanatory perspective view diagram illustrating a statein which an attachment portion of an attachment member is seen from aback surface side of a seat during attachment of an airbag module; and

FIG. 45 is a rear view diagram that illustrates an example in which atrim cover has a slit and is an explanatory diagram illustrating a statein which a seat back is seen from a back surface side of a seat.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings. Furthermore, the members and the arrangementto be described below do not limit the present invention, and may bemodified into various forms according to the spirit of the presentinvention.

In the present Specification, a front to back direction of a seat is afront to back direction when seen from an occupant in a state in whichthe occupant sits on the seat and will be referred to simply as a frontto back direction. Moreover, an up and down direction is the up and downdirection of the seat.

First Embodiment

A vehicle seat S as an airbag module-equipped seat according to thepresent embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the vehicle seat S includes a seat back S1, aseating portion S2, and a headrest S3.

The seat back S1 includes a front section S1 a with which the back of anoccupant makes contact, a pair of lateral sections S1 b that protrudetoward the front side on the lateral side of the seat from both rightand left ends of the front section S1 a to support the sides of theoccupant from the lateral sides, an upper section S1 c that ispositioned above the front section S1 a and the pair of lateral sectionsS1 b to form an upper end of the seat back S1, a lower section S1 d thatis positioned below the front section S1 a and the pair of lateralsections S1 b to form a lower end of the seat back S1, and a rearsection disposed on the back surface side of the seat back S1.

A seat frame F as illustrated in FIG. 2 is provided in the vehicle seatS. The seat frame F includes a seat back frame 1 which is a frame of theseat back S1 and a seating frame 2 which is a frame of the seatingportion S2. The seating frame 2 and the seat back frame 1 are connectedby a reclining mechanism 3. A cushion and a trim cover are provided onthe outer side of the seat back frame 1 and the seating frame 2 wherebythe seat back S1 and the seating portion S2 are formed.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 3, the seat back S1 includes the seat backframe 1, a cushion pad 5 placed on the seat back frame 1, a trim cover 4that covers the seat back frame 1 and the cushion pad 5 or 5 a, and astay cloth 32 having one end sewn to a breaking portion 40 of the trimcover 4 as its main components.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the seat back frame 1 is formed in aframe shape and includes side frames 10 disposed to be separated fromeach other in the right and left direction and to extend in the up todown direction, an upper frame 21 that connects the upper ends of theside frames 10, and a lower frame 22 that connects the lower ends of theside frames 10.

Pillar supporting portions 23 are provided in the upper frame 21, and aheadrest frame (not illustrated) is attached to the pillar supportingportions 23. A cushion member is provided on the outer side of theheadrest frame whereby the headrest S3 is formed.

The side frame 10 is molded by pressing a metal plate and is formed froman approximately plate member that is curved so that the width increasesas it advances from the upper side toward the lower side. As illustratedin FIG. 2, the side frame 10 includes a side plate 11 having anapproximately flat-plate shape, a front edge 12 formed by folding afront end of the side plate 11 inwardly in a U-shape, and a rear edge 13formed by bending a rear end of the side plate 11 inwardly in anL-shape.

A locking portion 15 having a locking hole at which both ends of a pairof bridging members 25 as an occupant supporting member formed of anS-spring that supports the occupant from the rear side are locked and apair of attachment holes 16 for attaching an attachment member 50 areformed in the side frame 10.

The attachment hole 16 is formed in a portion of the side plate 11 closeto the front edge 12 as a vertically long rectangular hole following aninclination of the front edge 12.

The side frame includes the attachment hole 16 for the attachment member50, formed at a position different from a shaft portion of a bolt 18 forattaching an airbag module 6. Thus, it is not necessary to support thestay cloth 32 using the shaft portion of the bolt 18 and form a holedirectly in the stay cloth 32 itself. Therefore, it is possible toimprove the durability of the connecting portions between the stay cloth32 and the side frame 10. Moreover, since the attachment of the airbagmodule 6 to the side frame 10 and the connection of the stay cloth 32 tothe side frame 10 are realized at different positions, it is possible tosimplify the attachment structure. Moreover, the connection structure ofthe stay cloth 32 to the side frame 10 has no influence on theattachment of the airbag module 6.

In the present embodiment, the attachment hole 16 for attachment of theinner-side stay cloth 32 is formed at the position of the side frame 10close to the front edge 12 only. However, when both the inner-side staycloth 32 and the outer-side stay cloth 31 are attached to the side frame10 using the attachment member 50, the attachment hole 16 for attachmentof the outer-side stay cloth 31 may be formed at the position close tothe rear edge 13.

A pair of attachment holes 16 are formed close to the upper and lowerends of the side plate 11 and are formed on the upper and lower sides ofthe locking portion 15 so that the locking portion 15 of the bridgingmember 25 is disposed between the attachment holes 16. In this manner,the attachment holes 16 are formed at different positions in the up anddown direction rather than being arranged in line with the lockingportion 15 in the horizontal direction. With this configuration, it ispossible to improve the workability of the attachment of the bridgingmember 25 and the attachment member 50 and to suppress a decrease inrigidity of the side frame 10 at the attachment position of the bridgingmember 25 or the attachment member 50.

A small-width portion having a small width in the front to backdirection of the side frame 10 has lower rigidity than a large-widthportion having a large width in the front to back direction disposed onthe lower side of the side frame 10. However, since the upper attachmenthole 16 is disposed in a portion of the small-width portion of the sideframe 10 close to the upper frame 21, it is possible to reinforce therigidity.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the airbag module 6 is fixed to a surface ofthe side frame 10 on the outer side of the seat.

The airbag module 6 of the present embodiment is configured as acaseless airbag module which does not have a module case. As illustratedin FIG. 3, the airbag module 6 includes an inflator 6 a, a folded airbag6 b, a retainer 6 c that holds the inflator 6 a, and a wrapping material6 d that wraps the airbag 6 b.

The periphery of the inflator 6 a is fixed to the retainer 6 c and theside frame 10 by a bolt 18 provided to stand toward the inner side ofthe seat S. The inflator 6 a may be fixed to the side frame 10 by aninflator attachment member other than the bolt.

The inflator 6 a is arranged in the airbag 6 b and the airbag 6 b isdeployed toward the front side of the seat S by gas discharged from theinflator 6 a.

The airbag 6 b is held in a folded state by the wrapping material 6 dformed of a fabric bag or the like, and the wrapping material 6 d isconfigured to tear easily when the airbag 6 b is deployed.

In the present embodiment, although the airbag module 6 is configured asa caseless airbag module, the present invention is not limited to this,and the airbag module 6 may be configured to have a module case.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, an opening 8 for storing the airbag module 6is formed in the cushion pad 5, and the opening 8 forms a space 7.

The trim cover 4 is formed of a well-known material, and, as illustratedin FIGS. 3 and 4, is sewn in a bag form by sewing a front wedge portion41 that covers the right and left bank surface from the center of theseat surface and a lateral wedge portion 42 that extends from aperipheral side surface to reach the back surface and sewing a rearwedge portion (not illustrated) to an end of the lateral wedge portion42 on the opposite side of the front wedge portion 41.

A breaking portion 40 is formed at the protruding apexes of the bankportions of the front wedge portion 41 and the lateral wedge portion 42.In the breaking portion 40, the ends of the front wedge portion 41 andthe lateral wedge portion 42 are sewn together so that the ends can bebroken with tensile force generated by inflation of the airbag whilemaintaining strength suitable for general usage.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, stay clothes 31 and 32 are sewn together inthe breaking portion 40.

The stay cloth 32 is formed from a cloth-shaped material having smallelasticity and performs the role of transmitting stress generated byinflation of the airbag to the breaking portion 40. The stay clothes 31and 32 correspond to a guide member described in the embodiments.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the stay cloth 32 is formed of anapproximately rectangular cloth. A plurality of attachment portions 36for attachment of trim plates 37 is provided on both ends of a side 35that faces the breaking portion 40 to protrude in a rectangular shape.

The trim plate 37 is a rectangular plate member formed of a rigid resin.The trim plate 37 is used to maintain the shape of a terminal of theattachment portion 36 of the stay cloth 32. Since the trim plate 37 isfixed to the terminal of the stay cloth 32, the workability wheninserting the terminal of the stay cloth 32 into the holding space 59 isimproved. In the present embodiment, although the trim plate 37 is fixedto the attachment portion 36 of the stay cloth 32, the present inventionis not limited to this. For example, the trim plate 37 may not be used,and the terminal of the attachment portion 36 of the stay cloth 32 maybe folded or rolled a plurality of number of times and sewn together,which may be flattened by pressing and inserted into the holding space59 of the attachment member 50.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, the stay cloth 32 is pulled from the breakingportion 40 into the space 7. The trim plate 37 fixed to the attachmentportion 36 of the stay cloth 32 is locked at the attachment hole 16 ofthe side frame 10 using the attachment member 50.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 3, a locking hook 33 is sewn and fixedto the other end of the stay cloth 31. The stay cloth 31 is pulled intoa space formed between the airbag module 6 and the cushion pad 5 adisposed on the rear side of the airbag module 6, and the locking hook33 is locked at the rear edge 13 of the side frame 10.

When the attachment member 50 is also used for attachment of theouter-side stay cloth 31, the trim plate 37 is sewn and fixed to the endof the stay cloth 31. The attachment hole 16 is formed in a portion ofthe side frame 10 close to the rear edge 13, and the stay cloth 31 isattached to the attachment hole 16 by the attachment member 50 similarlyto the inner-side stay cloth 32.

Since a configuration of attaching the stay cloth 31 to the side frame10 using the attachment member 50 is the same as the configuration ofattaching the stay cloth 32 except that the stay cloth is attached byreversing the front to back direction of the seat, the descriptionthereof will not be repeated.

The attachment member 50 is integrally molded with a rigid resin. Asillustrated in FIGS. 5 and 7, the attachment member 50 includes aholding portion 51 having such a shape that one side of a hollowrectangular prism is notched and a planar flange portion 52 that iscontinuous from the notched side of the holding portion 51 and protrudesin all directions. The flange portion 52 corresponds to a protrudingportion described in the embodiments.

The holding portion 51 includes a front wall 53, a horizontal wall 54, arear wall 55, a horizontal wall 56, a top wall 57 erected verticallytoward the rear side from an end of the front wall 53 on the oppositeside of the flange portion 52, and a partition wall 58 that bridges thehorizontal walls 54 and 56 and is parallel to the front wall 53 and therear wall 55.

The space surrounded by the front wall 53, the horizontal wall 54, therear wall 55, the horizontal wall 56, and the top wall 57 is the holdingspace 59 in which the trim plate 37 is locked. The holding space 59 isdivided into a front space 59 a and a rear space 59 b by the partitionwall 58.

Moreover, when the attachment member 50 is attached to the side frame 10on the right side of the seat S, the horizontal wall 54 is positioned onthe upper side and the horizontal wall 56 is positioned on the lowerside. When the attachment member 50 is attached to the side frame 10 onthe left side of the seat S, the horizontal wall 54 is positioned on thelower side and the horizontal wall 56 is positioned on the upper side.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 7, the horizontal walls 54 and 56 areformed in an approximately L-shape in which one corner of a rectangle isnotched.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the top wall 57 is formed insuch a shape that the center in the up and down direction of the topwall 57 is notched to be recessed up to the front wall 53.

The notched portions of the horizontal walls 54 and 56 and the top wall57 form an approximately T-shaped opening, and the stay cloth 32 and thetrim plate 37 that are locked inside the holding space 59 can beobserved through the opening. Moreover, with this opening, theattachment member 50 can be molded without using a core by splitting themold from the two directions of the holding portion 51 side and theflange portion 52 side.

A slit 55 s is formed at the center in the up and down direction of therear wall 55. This slit 55 s is continuous to a slit 52 s formed at thecenter of the rear portion of the flange portion 52. These slits 55 sand 52 s divide the rear wall 55 and the rear portion of the flangeportion 52 into two parts at the center. The slits 55 s and 52 s areused for inserting the stay cloth 32 into the holding space 59.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5 to 7, projections 60 are formed on the outersurface of the rear wall 55 on the rear side of the seat with the slit55 s interposed.

The projection 60 has an approximately triangular prism shape having asurface 60 a that is disposed close to the flange portion 52 and has anangle close to the right angle with respect to the rear wall 55 and asurface 60 b that is disposed on the opposite side of the flange portion52 and has a small acute angle with respect to the rear wall 55. Thedistance between the surface 60 a and the flange portion 52 is the sameas or slightly larger than the thickness of the side frame 10 in theattachment hole 16. The surface 60 a is a surface that faces the flangeportion 52 and the edge of the attachment hole 16 is interposed betweenthe surface 60 a and the flange portion 52 so that removal of theattachment member 50 from the attachment hole 16 can be suppressed.

A thick portion of the holding portion 51 disposed between theprojection 60 and the flange portion 52 close to the flange portion 52corresponds to a hole contacting portion described in the embodiments.

The ends of the partition wall 58 and the front wall 53 on the outerside of the seat are connected by a bridge portion 61. The bridgeportion 61 is provided as a short strip of board at the center in the upand down direction of the partition wall 58 and the front wall 53 andforms the same surface as the surface of the flange portion 52. Thewidth of the bridge portion 61 in the up and down direction of the seatis smaller than the width of the notch portion formed at the center ofthe top wall 57 so that the attachment member 50 can be molded bysplitting the mold from two directions of the holding portion 51 sideand the flange portion 52 side. The bridge portion 61 performs the roleof a stopper that prevents the ends of the trim plate 37 and the staycloth 32 inserted in the holding space 59 from being removed from theholding space 59.

A projection 57 a that protrudes toward the front space 59 a is formedat the distal end of the inner surface of the top wall 57 close to therear wall 55. This projection 57 a performs the role of a stopper thatsuppresses the trim plate 37 inserted in the front space 59 a from beingpulled out of the front space 59 a upon receiving force that causes thetrim plate 37 to be pulled out of the front space 59 a via the staycloth 32 during inflation of the airbag 6 b.

The projection 57 a has a surface that is disposed on the outer side ofthe front space 59 a and is formed as a flat surface that is continuousfrom the distal end of the top wall 57 and a surface that is disposedclose to the front space 59 a and has an approximately L-shaped hookedstep. Although the trim plate 37 can be inserted into the front space 59a by the force of a person's hand, when a force that causes the trimplate 37 to be pulled out of the front space 59 a is applied, the end ofthe trim plate 37 is locked at the step. As a result, the trim plate 37is not easily pulled out of the front space 59 a.

The flange portion 52 has a flat plate shape having a contacting surface52 a that makes contact with the side frame 10 and a pressing surface 52b on the rear side of the contacting surface 52 a. The contactingsurface 52 a is a flat surface and the pressing surface 52 b has aperipheral edge portion that forms a curved surface 52 c that is curvedtoward the contacting surface 52 a so that the end of the pressingsurface 52 b crosses the end of the contacting surface 52 a.

A front portion of the flange portion 52 disposed closer to the frontside than the holding portion 51 is longer than a rear portion disposedcloser to the rear side than the holding portion 51. Thus, when theflange portion 52 is assembled with the side frame 10, it is possible tosuppress the stay cloth 32 from making contact with the boundary portionbetween the front edge 12 and the side plate 11 of the side frame 10 andfrom being damaged.

FIG. 9 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a state in which the end ofthe stay cloth 32 is attached to the side plate 11 of the side frame 10using the attachment member 50.

The attachment member 50 is inserted into the attachment hole 16 in astate in which the long portion of the flange portion 52 is on the frontside and the outer surface of the holding portion 51 close to the flangeportion 52 is in contact with the inner surface of the attachment hole16 of the side frame 10. In this case, the edge of the rear portion ofthe attachment hole 16 is interposed between the flange portion 52 andthe projection 60.

In this manner, since the attachment member 50 is inserted into theattachment hole 16, the attachment position of the attachment member 50in the up and down direction and the front to back direction can beeasily restricted by the contacting surface of the attachment member 50and the attachment hole 16. Moreover, the stay cloth 32 is suppressedfrom making contact with the end of the side frame 10 according to thepulling direction of the stay cloth 32.

The trim plate 37 is held in the front space 59 a in a state in whichthe trim plate 37 is sewn to the end of the stay cloth 32 and faces thefront surface of the partition wall 58. The trim plate 37 and the end ofthe stay cloth 32 are in contact with a surface of the bridge portion 61on the inner side of the seat.

In this manner, the trim plate 37 having higher rigidity than the staycloth 32 is fixed to the end of the stay cloth 32, and the attachmentmember 50 is inserted into the attachment hole 16 in a state in whichthe trim plate 37 is held in the holding space 59. Thus, the durabilityof the stay cloth 32 when the stay cloth 32 receives tensile forcegenerated by inflation of the airbag 6 b can be improved as compared towhen a hole is formed in the stay cloth 32 itself and a shaft on theside frame side is inserted into the hole to fix the stay cloth 32.

Although the trim plate 37 faces the inner surface of the front wall 53in FIG. 9, the stay cloth 32 may be folded to match the width of thetrim plate 37 as in FIG. 10 so that the trim plate 37 is sandwiched bythe folded stay clothes 32 in the front space 59 a and both surfaces ofthe trim plate 37 are in contact with the stay clothes 32. In this case,the stay cloth 32 makes contact with the inner surface of the front wall53.

The stay cloth 32 passes between the partition wall 58 and the top wall57 to enter the rear space 59 b and passes through the opening of therear space 59 b close to the flange portion 52 to be drawn to the outerside of the attachment member 50.

The flange portion 52 is disposed so that the contacting surface 52 a isin contact with the side plate 11. Moreover, the pressing surface 52 bof the flange portion 52 is pressed by the retainer 6 c in a state inwhich the stay cloth 32 is sandwiched between the pressing surface 52 band the retainer 6 c.

In the present embodiment, although approximately the entire surface ofthe pressing surface 52 b is pressed toward the side plate 11 by theretainer 6 c, the present invention is not limited to this, and at leasta portion of the pressing surface 52 b may be pressed by the retainer 6c.

When a portion of the pressing surface 52 b close to the front side ofthe seat is pressed, since the stay cloth 32 as well as the pressingsurface 52 b is pressed, it is possible to suppress the tensile forcegenerated by inflation of the airbag 6 b from being transmitted to theattachment member 50 efficiently. As a result, the inflating force ofthe airbag 6 b can be transmitted to the breaking portion 40 by the staycloth 32 smoothly.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, although the pressing surface 52 bis pressed by the retainer 6 c, the pressing surface 52 b may be pressedby the inflator 6 a or the airbag 6 b. When the airbag 6 b is disposedin contact with the pressing surface 52 b, although the pressing surface52 b does not receive the pressing force from the airbag 6 b in a normalusage mode, the pressing surface 52 b is pressed toward the side plate11 when the airbag 6 b is inflated.

Moreover, when the airbag 6 b is stored in a module case, the pressingsurface 52 b may be pressed by the module case. Moreover, a dedicatedmember for pressing the pressing surface 52 b may be provided.

The procedure of attaching the end of the stay cloth 32 to the sideframe 10 will be described.

First, the end of the attachment portion 36 of the stay cloth 32 towhich the trim plate 37 is sewn is locked at the attachment member 50.

Attachment of the stay cloth 32 to the attachment member 50 is performedin the following procedure. One of the two sides of the attachmentportion 36 vertical to the trim plate 37 is inserted into the rear space59 b through the slits 55 s and 52 s. In this case, the trim plate 37faces the rear wall 55 side and the end of the attachment portion 36faces the front wall 53 side.

Subsequently, the other one of the two sides of the attachment portion36 vertical to the trim plate 37 is inserted into the rear space 59 bthrough the slits 55 s and 52 s to realize a state in which theattachment portion 36 passes through the rear space 59 b.

Subsequently, the trim plate 37 is inverted by 180°, the end of theattachment portion 36 is bent toward the front space 59 a, the trimplate 37 is inserted into the front space 59 a from the gap between thepartition wall 58 and the top wall 57, and the trim plate 37 is pusheduntil the distal end of the trim plate 37 makes contact with the bridgeportion 61. In this way, connection of the stay cloth 32 and theattachment member 50 is completed.

Subsequently, the attachment member 50 is inserted into the attachmenthole 16 from the seat outer side of the side frame 10, and theattachment member 50 is pushed until the rear-side edge of theattachment hole 16 of the side plate 11 is interposed between the flangeportion 52 and the projection 60.

In this case, specifically, as described above, when the attachmentmember 50 is pushed toward the attachment hole 16 side, the projection60 makes contact with the inner surface of the attachment hole 16 sothat force directed toward the front wall 53 side is applied to the rearwall 55. With this force, the rear wall 55 is bent and the holdingportion 51 can be inserted into the attachment hole 16. Further, whenthe attachment member 50 is inserted up to such a position that theprojection 60 moves beyond the inner surface of the attachment hole 16,bending of the rear wall 55 disappears and the attachment member 50 isfitted into the attachment hole 16.

The airbag module 6 is assembled from the outer side of the seat. Inthis case, the airbag module 6 is fixed by the bolt 18 in a state inwhich the retainer 6 c presses at least a portion of the flange portion52.

After that, the cushion pads 5 a are disposed on the outer side of theairbag module 6 and the cushion pads 5 a are covered by the trim cover 4to form the seat.

FIGS. 11 to 13 illustrates another embodiment of the attachment memberof the present invention.

An attachment member 70 of the present embodiment is integrally moldedfrom a rigid resin. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the attachment member 70includes a holding portion 78 formed of an approximately cylindricalform having open upper and lower ends and a pair of planar flangeportions 72 a and 72 b formed continuously from both sides of a slitformed on a side wall surface of the holding portion 78 along the up anddown direction. The flange portions 72 a and 72 b correspond to aprotruding portion described in the embodiments.

The holding portion 78 includes a holding wall 73 formed continuouslyfrom one flange portion 72 a and having an approximately semicircularcylindrical form, a contacting wall 74 formed continuously between theholding wall 73 and the other flange portion 72 b, and a planar lockingportion 75 standing toward the inner side from a position between theflange portion 72 a and the inner surface of the holding wall 73.

The holding wall 73 has an approximately semicircular cylindrical formand a projection 76 having a surface approximately parallel to thelocking portion 75 is formed on an inner surface of the holding wall 73at a position separated from the locking portion 75 by a distanceslightly larger than the thickness of the trim plate 37.

A thin hinge portion 77 is disposed between the holding wall 73 and thecontacting wall 74. The hinge portion 77 allows the attachment member 70to be easily attached to the attachment hole 16 since the angle betweenthe holding wall 73 and the contacting wall 74 decreases when theattachment member 70 is pushed into the attachment hole 16.

The locking portion 75 is formed of a planar member that extends towardthe hinge portion 77 from the position between the holding wall 73 andthe flange portion 72 a. A space at least having a size corresponding tothe thickness of the stay cloth 32 is formed between the hinge portion77 and the distal end of the locking portion 75.

A projection 75 a protruding vertically toward the holding wall 73 in ahook shape is formed on the distal end of the locking portion 75.

The contacting wall 74 has such a shape that the outer surface isapproximately flat and the inner surface bulges in an approximatelyM-shape in a cross-sectional view.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, when tensile force is applied to the staycloth 32 during deployment of the airbag 6 b, the locking portion 75 ispressed by the trim plate 37 so that the distal end of the lockingportion 75 is moved between the flange portions 72 a and 72 b. In thiscase, the trim plate 37 makes contact with an inner bulging portion 74 aof the M-shaped bulging surface disposed close to the hinge portion 77so that the trim plate 37 is suppressed from being removed from thelocking portion 75. As a result, inflating force of the airbag 6 b canbe transmitted to the breaking portion 40 smoothly by the stay cloth 32.

The attachment member 70, the side frame 10, and the other configurationof the airbag module 6 are the same as the attachment member 50, theside frame 10, and the airbag module 6 illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 10, andthe description thereof will not be repeated.

Second Embodiment

A vehicle seat S as an airbag module-equipped seat according to anotherembodiment of the present invention will be described with reference toFIGS. 1, 3, 4, and 14 to 19.

In the present embodiment, an example in which a stay cloth 32 as afabric member is connected to a side frame 10 as a frame using anattachment member 150 will be described. However, the present inventionis not limited to this, and a fabric member may be connected to a frameprovided in the vehicle seat S using the attachment member 150.

In the present embodiment, although the stay cloth 32 which is a guidemember that guides the deployment direction of an airbag is described asan example of the fabric member, the fabric member is not limited tothis.

In the vehicle seat S, a fragile portion 117 is formed at the sameheight as the attachment hole 16 of the side frame 10 and at a positionlocated closer to the rear side of the seat than the attachment hole 16as illustrated in FIG. 14.

The fragile portions 117 are formed in both right and left side frames10 in a bilaterally symmetrical manner.

The fragile portion 117 includes a bead 117 a formed in the side plate11, a curved portion 117 b that is formed in the rear edge 13 toprotrude at the same height as the bead 117 a, and a hole 117 c formedbetween a rear end of the bead 117 a and an end of the curved portion117 b on the outer side of the seat.

The center of the bead 117 a in the up and down direction of the seat iscurved to protrude outward from the lateral side of the seat. The bead117 a extends approximately horizontally from a position close to thecenter of the side plate 11 toward a position near the rear end of theside plate 11.

The curved portion 117 b is formed so that a portion of the rear edge 13having approximately the same height as the bead 117 a is curved so thatthe center of the portion in the up and down direction of the seatprotrudes toward the front side of the seat. Moreover, the curvedportion 117 b is formed to extend from an outer end of the rear edge 13in the seat width direction to reach the inner end in the seat widthdirection so that the inner end side in the seat width direction ispositioned slightly above the outer end. The width of the curved portion117 b in the up and down direction of the seat and the height of theside frame 10 in the thickness direction are larger than the bead 117 a.

The hole 117 c is formed in a corner portion between the bead 117 a andthe curved portion 117 b on the rear outer side of the side frame 10 atwhich the side plate 11 crosses the rear edge 13.

Since the fragile portion 117 is formed in such a manner, in the eventof a rear end collision, the side plate 11 is first guided to the bead117 a and the hole 117 b that protrude toward the outer lateral side ofthe seat and starts to be open outward along the bead 117 a.Subsequently, with the outward opening of the side plate 11 as atrigger, the rear edge 13 buckles along the curved portion 117 b so thata portion of the curved portion 117 b disposed above the rear edge 13faces the rear side.

Since the side frame 10 includes such a fragile portion 117, it ispossible to suppress the complex deformation of the side frame 10 due tothe occurrence of complex input load such as bending, compression, andstretching in the event of a rear end collision or the like and torealize a stable deformation mode.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 14, the attachment hole 16 is formed ina portion of the side plate 11 at the same height as the fragile portion117 disposed closer to the front side of the seat than the fragileportion 117.

With this configuration, since the attachment hole 16 is formed alongthe deformation direction of the bead 117 a that is deformed first inthe event of a rear end collision, the attachment hole does notinterfere with the deformation of the bead 117 a but the attachment holeworks in association with the buckling. Thus, the performance ofmitigating the impact of a rear end collision is improved.

Moreover, since the attachment hole 16 is formed at a position on therear side of the fragile portion 117 serving as the starting point ofthe buckling, at which the amount of deformation during the buckling issmall, the attachment hole 16 is rarely influenced by the stress duringthe buckling. As a result, since the stress during the rear endcollision concentrates on the fragile portion 117, it is possible tosuppress the load of the rear end collision from having influence on theportion of the attachment member 150 attached to the attachment hole 16in the event of the rear end collision.

The attachment member 150 is integrally molded with a rigid resin and ismolded in its deployed state as illustrated in FIGS. 15 and 16. Theattachment member 150 is bent to a bent state when being attached to theside frame 10 as illustrated in FIG. 17.

In the bent state of FIG. 17, the attachment member 150 includes aholding portion 151 formed of an approximately hollow rectangular prismand approximately planar flange portions 152 and 153 that are continuousfrom two sides of one surface of the holding portion 151 respectivelyand protrude toward the outer side.

The holding portion 151 is formed of an approximately hollow rectangularprism in which, in the bent state of the attachment member duringassembling of the stay cloth 32, the end of the stay cloth 32 to whichthe trim plate 37 is fixed is held in a bent state. The holding portion151 includes a stationary wall 154 with which the large-width surface onthe end side of the stay cloth 32 makes contact, a movable wall 155 as ahinge wall parallel to the stationary wall 154 during assembling, a topwall 156 that connects one set of ends of the stationary wall 154 andthe movable wall 155, and lid portions 157 and 158 that block both endsof a groove-shaped space 151 s surrounded by the stationary wall 154,the top wall 156, and the movable wall 155 during assembling as its maincomponents.

The stationary wall 154 is formed of an approximately rectangular planarmember, one of the longer sides thereof is continuous to the rectangularplanar flange portion 152 that stands vertically in an L-shape from thestationary wall 154, and the other longer side is continuous to therectangular planar top wall 156 that stands vertically in an L-shapefrom the stationary wall 154 on the opposite side of the flange portion152.

As illustrated in FIG. 18, a claw 154 p that interposes the side plate11 in cooperation with the flange portion 152 is formed at a position onthe outer surface of the stationary wall 154 on the opposite side of thespace 151 s, separated by the thickness of the side plate 11 from theend of the outer surface of the stationary wall 154 continuous to theflange portion 152. The claw 154 p is formed at the center in the widthdirection of the stationary wall 154 to be separated from both ends inthe width direction of the stationary wall 154.

The side of the top wall 156 on the opposite side of the stationary wall154 is continuous to the movable wall 155 with a thin hinge portion 159interposed.

The hinge portion 159 has a small thickness because a smooth recess 159g is formed on the inner surface close to the space 151 s side. The topwall 156 and the movable wall 155 have approximately the same thicknessand the hinge portion 159 is thin. Thus, in the deployed stateillustrated in FIGS. 15 and 16 during molding, the portion extendingfrom the top wall 156 to the movable wall 155 via the hinge portion 159form an approximately flat surface. However, in the bent stateillustrated in FIG. 17 during assembling, the top wall 156 and themovable wall 155 are bent at the hinge portion 159 disposed therebetweento form an L-shape in a cross-section in which both are approximatelyvertical to each other.

The movable wall 155 is formed of an approximately rectangular planarmember, one of the longer sides (the fixed end of the movable wall 155)thereof is continuous to the hinge portion 159, and the other longerside (the free end of the movable wall 155) is continuous to therectangular planar flange portion 153 that stands vertically in anL-shape from the movable wall 155.

The movable wall 155 has a recessed groove 155 g formed an end-sidesurface of two sides other than the sides continuous to the top wall 156and the flange portion 153 among the four sides.

As illustrated in FIG. 18, a claw 155 p that interposes the side plate11 in cooperation with the flange portion 153 is formed at a position onthe outer surface of the movable wall 155 on the opposite side of thespace 151 s, separated by the thickness of the side plate 11 from theend of the outer surface of the movable wall 155 continuous to theflange portion 153. The claw 155 p is formed at the center in the widthdirection of the movable wall 155 to be separated from both ends in thewidth direction of the movable wall 155.

A partition wall 160 that divides the space 151 s is formed to beintegrated with an end of the inner surface of the movable wall 155close to the space 151 s side on the opposite side of the hinge portion159.

As illustrated in FIG. 18, the partition wall 160 includes a connectingportion 160 a that stands vertically from the inner surface of themovable wall 155 and a partition wall portion 160 b in which a portionof the connecting portion 160 a on the opposite side of the movable wall155 is curved toward the top wall 156 to be parallel to the movable wall155.

Among the four sides of the stationary wall 154, two sides where the topwall 156 and the flange portion 152 are not formed are continuous to theplanar lid portions 157 and 158 that stand toward the same side as thetop wall 156 vertically to the stationary wall 154 and the top wall 156.

The lid portions 157 and 158 have one side continuous to the stationarywall 154, and the top sides 157 a and 158 a located closer to the topwall 156 among the sides that neighbor the side continuous to thestationary wall 154 are disposed at a position separated by apredetermined distance from the top wall 156 to be parallel to the topwall 156. Thus, a slit-shaped monitoring window 156 g is formed betweenthe top wall 156 and the top sides 157 a and 158 a so that the inside ofthe space 151 s can be observed from the outside of the attachmentmember 150 through the monitoring window 156 g.

As illustrated in FIG. 15, projections 157 b and 158 b that extend in adirection parallel to the stationary wall 154 vertically to the top wall156 are formed on an inner surface of the end of the sides of the lidportions 157 and 158 facing the side continuous to the stationary wall154. The projections 157 b and 158 b are locked at the pair of recessedgrooves 155 g formed in the movable wall 155 in the bent state, wherebythe movable wall 155 can be aligned with respect to the stationary wall154.

Moreover, when the attachment member 150 is assembled with the sideplate 11 as illustrated in FIGS. 18 and 19, the projections 157 b and158 b are fitted further deeply into the recessed grooves 155 g and thelocking state is further strengthened.

As illustrated in FIGS. 15 to 17, the ends of bottom sides 157 c and 158c of the lid portions 157 and 158 facing the top sides 157 a and 158 adisposed close to the stationary wall 154 side and on the opposite sideof the stationary wall 154 are notched in a rectangular shape and arebent at the hinge portion 159. Thus, the workability when deforming theattachment member 150 in the bent state is improved.

In the present embodiment, during assembling of the attachment member150, the stationary wall 154 and the movable wall 155 extendapproximately in the up and down direction and the lid portions extendapproximately in the horizontal direction. Thus, the stationary wall 154and the movable wall 155 restrict the position approximately in thehorizontal direction or the right and left direction close to the end ofthe stay cloth 32 and the lid portions 157 and 158 restricts theposition in the up and down direction close to the end of the stay cloth32.

The flange portions 152 and 153 as a hooking portion are formed of anapproximately rectangular planar member and stand vertically from theshort sides of the stationary wall 154 and the movable wall 155,respectively, on the opposite side of the top wall 156. The flangeportion 153 on the side (that is, the side close to the movable wall155) in which the stay cloth 32 having the end held in the space 151 sis pulled out has guide walls 153 a and 153 b that stand on the ends oftwo sides adjacent to the side continuous to the movable wall 155 alongthe extending directions of these two sides and that are formed over theentire length in the extension direction of the flange portion 153.

The height of the guide walls 153 a and 153 b is the same as thethickness of the flange portion 152, and the thickness of the flangebody 153 c in the region sandwiched by the guide walls 153 a and 153 bis smaller than the height of the guide walls 153 a and 153 b by atleast the thickness of one stay cloth.

As illustrated in FIGS. 15 and 16, the flange portion 152, thestationary wall 154, the top wall 156, the movable wall 155, and theflange body 153 c of the attachment member 150 have the same width, andthe lid portions 157 and 158 and the guide walls 153 a and 153 bprotrude in the width direction.

Moreover, the flange portion 152 and the flange body 153 c have asmaller thickness than the other portions.

The attachment member 150 is fixed so that the angle between the flangeportion 152 and the stationary wall 154, the angle between thestationary wall 154 and the top wall 156, and the angle between themovable wall 155 and the flange portion are the right angles,respectively. Moreover, the angle between the top wall 156 and themovable wall 155 is variable between approximately the horizontal angleand approximately the right angle due to the hinge portion 159. Thus,the attachment member 150 can be switched between the deployed state ofFIGS. 15 and 16 and the bent state of FIG. 17.

The procedure of attaching the end of the stay cloth 32 to the sideframe 10 using the attachment member 150 will be described.

First, the end of the attachment portion 36 of the stay cloth 32 towhich the trim plate 37 is sewn is locked at the attachment member 150.

The attachment of the stay cloth 32 to the attachment member 150 isperformed in the following procedure. In the deployed state illustratedin FIGS. 15 and 16, a lateral end 160 c of a groove between the movablewall 155 and the partition wall 160 is exposed from the lid portions 157and 158. The trim plate 37 to which the stay cloth 32 is sewn isinserted into the exposed groove between the partition wall 160 and themovable wall 155 of the attachment member 150 through the lateral end160 c, and the trim plate 37 is slid so that the entire trim plate 37 ispushed into the groove between the movable wall 155 and the partitionwall 160.

Subsequently, a portion of the stay cloth 32 disposed adjacent to thetrim plate 37 is pulled into a region between the partition wall portion160 b and the stationary wall 154 while passing through the end of thepartition wall portion 160 b from the groove between the movable wall155 and the partition wall 160.

Subsequently, the movable wall 155 and the top wall 156 are bent at thehinge portion 159 so that the angle between the walls becomesapproximately the right angle and the projections 157 b and 158 b arelocked at the pair of recessed grooves 155 g. In this case, theattachment member 150 is in the bent state illustrated in FIG. 17.

Subsequently, the attachment member 150 is inserted into the attachmenthole 16 from the side of the side frame 10 on the outer side of theseat, and as illustrated in FIGS. 18 and 19, the attachment member 150is pushed until the front and rear edges of the attachment hole 16 ofthe side plate 11 are interposed between the flange portion 153 and theclaw 155 p and between the flange portion 153 and the claw 154 p,respectively.

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 19, the lid portions 157 and 158receive the pressing force from the edges of the attachment hole 16 sothat the engagement between the projections 157 b and 158 b and therecessed grooves 155 g is strengthened further. Moreover, the outersurface of the movable wall 155 receives the pressing force from theedges of the attachment hole 16 and the inner surface thereof receivesthe pressing force from the trim plate 37 and the stay cloth 32 so thatthe engagement between the recessed grooves 155 g and the projections157 b and 158 b is strengthened further. As a result, the attachmentmember 150 is stably maintained in the bent state.

The airbag module 6 is assembled from the outer side of the seat. Inthis case, the airbag module 6 is fixed by the bolt 18 in a state inwhich the retainer 6 c presses at least a portion of the flange portion152.

After that, the cushion pads 5 a are disposed on the outer side of theairbag module 6 and the cushion pads 5 a are covered by the trim cover 4to form the seat.

In the present embodiment, the position in the thickness direction ofthe end of the stay cloth 32 is restricted by the stationary wall 154and the movable wall 155, and the position in the width direction of theend of the stay cloth 32 is restricted by the lid portions 157 and 158.Conversely, the position in the thickness direction of the end of thestay cloth 32 may be restricted by the lid portions and the position inthe width direction of the end of the stay cloth 32 may be restricted bythe stationary wall and the movable wall.

The other configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that ofthe first embodiment, and description thereof will not be repeated.

Third Embodiment

A vehicle seat S as an airbag module-equipped seat according to stillanother embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 1, 2, 5, 8, and 20 to 25.

In the vehicle seat S, the cushion pad 5 is formed of a urethane foamwhich is a well-known vehicle seat material. The cushion pad 5 is formedby integrally molding a resin foam to form the shape of a seat surfacethat includes the portions other than the rear side of the lateralsurface and the back surface of the seat back frame 1, that is, thefront section S1 a with which the back of an occupant makes contact, thefront part of the lateral section S1 b in which the sides of theoccupant is positioned, and the upper section S1 c and the lower sectionS1 d of the seat back S1.

As illustrated in FIG. 20, an opening 8 for storing the airbag module 6is formed in the lateral section S1 b of the cushion pad 5, and theopening 8 forms a space 7.

As illustrated in FIGS. 20 and 5, the cushion pad 5 has a groove 9 thatis formed at a position slightly closer to the inner side than theseat-side end of the lateral section S1 b of the seat back S1.

The groove 9 is formed at a position following the extension directionof a sewn portion 44 when the groove 9 is covered with the trim cover 4to be continuous in the up and down direction of the seat at a positionlocated slightly closer to the inner side of the seat than the seat-sideend of the lateral section S1 b. Among the portions of the groove 9facing the sewn portion 44, only the portion that faces the portion inwhich the stay cloth 32 is sewn is deep.

Although FIG. 20 illustrates a state in which the airbag module 6 isdisposed in the space 7, a cushion material (not illustrated) formed inthe shape of the space 7 is fitted into one of the pair of lateralsections S1 b in which the airbag module 6 is not disposed.

The cushion pad 5 has such a shape that is bilaterally symmetrical abouta vertical section that includes the groove 9 and passes through thecenter in the seat width direction. With this configuration, the samecushion pad 5 can be used for both vehicles having the steering wheel onthe right and left sides.

The trim cover 4 is formed from an existing material and is formed as anintegrated fabric member by stacking three layers including a skin layer(not illustrated), a foam material layer formed from a polyurethane foamor the like, and a film as a barrier layer and bonding the layers eachother. As illustrated in FIGS. 20 and 21, the trim cover 4 is sewn in abag form by sewing a front wedge portion 41 that covers the right andleft bank surface from the center of the seat surface and a lateralwedge portion 42 that extends from a peripheral side surface to reachthe back surface using the sewn portion 44 and sewing a rear wedgeportion (not illustrated) to an end of the lateral wedge portion 42 onthe opposite side of the front wedge portion 41.

The sewn portion 44 is formed at the protruding apexes of the bankportions of the front wedge portion 41 and the lateral wedge portion 42,and the breaking portion 40 is formed in a portion of the sewn portion44 in the up and down direction of the seat.

As illustrated in FIG. 21, the stay cloth 32 is sewn together in thebreaking portion 40.

The stay cloth 32 is formed from a cloth-shaped material having smallelasticity. The stay cloth 32 is an inner-side stay cloth that is pulledinto the side of the airbag module 6 on the inner side of the seat fromthe breaking portion 40 while passing through the front side of theairbag module 6. The stay cloth 32 performs the role of transmittingstress generated by inflation of the airbag to the breaking portion 40and protecting the cushion pad 5 disposed on the sides of the airbagmodule 6 close to the front and inner sides of the seat.

In the present embodiment, the outer-side stay cloth is not provided butthe inner-side stay cloth 32 only is provided. Thus, the size of thesewn portion formed by sewing in the breaking portion 40 decreases andthe groove 9 can be made narrower and shallower. As a result, it ispossible to suppress the shape of the groove 9 and the breaking portion40 from having influence on the appearance of the trim cover 4.

FIG. 20 illustrates a cross-sectional view of a state in which the endof the stay cloth 32 is attached to the side plate 11 of the side frame10 using the attachment member 50.

FIG. 21 illustrates a positional relation between the breaking portion40 and the groove 9 of the cushion pad 5 in the assembled state of theseat back S1.

FIG. 22 illustrates a cross-section of a plan vertical to the extensiondirection of the groove 9. The groove 9 includes a bottom portion 9 athat is the deepest in the direction vertical to the extensiondirection, an inclined surface 9 c as an inclined surface that is formedmore on the inner side in the seat width direction than the bottomportion 9 a and is gently inclined continuously to connect the bottomportion 9 a and an inner end 9 b of the groove 9 in the seat widthdirection, and an inclined surface 9 e as an inclined surface that isgently inclined continuously to connect the bottom portion 9 a and anouter end 9 d of the groove 9 in the seat width direction.

As illustrated in FIG. 22, the bottom portion 9 a is a flat portion thatextends vertically to the extension direction of the groove 9.

Since only a region of the groove 9 facing the portion to which the staycloth 32 is sewn is deep, the bottom portion 9 a is shallow in portionsother than the region facing the portion to which the stay cloth 32 issewn.

In the assembled state of the seat back S1, a portion in which the frontwedge portion 41 and the lateral wedge portion 42 are sewn to makecontact with each other is defined as the center 40 c of the breakingportion 40. The center 40 c is shifted closer to the outer side in theseat width direction, to which the stay cloth is not attached, than theposition facing the bottom portion 9 a which is the center of the groove9 and faces the inclined surface 9 e. Thus, the end of the stay cloth 32and the end of the front wedge portion 41 to which the stay cloth 32 issewn face the bottom portion 9 a.

The groove 9 may be formed in such a curved shape that the groove 9 isconvex toward the opposite side of the front surface of the cushion pad5 rather than the shape in which the inclined surface 9 c that the sideto which the stay cloth 32 is attached faces is planar. Moreover, thegroove 9 may be formed such that the inclined surface 9 c that the sideto which the stay cloth 32 is attached faces is longer than the otherinclined surface 9 e.

In the present embodiment, the groove 9 is formed in a position of thefront surface of the cushion pad 5 facing the breaking portion 40.However, instead of forming the groove 9, the portion of the frontsurface of the cushion pad 5 to which the end of the front wedge portion41 and the end of the stay cloth 32 face may have lower hardness thanthe portion that the end of the lateral wedge portion 42 faces. By doingso, the contact pressure that the cushion pad 5 receives from the end ofthe lateral wedge portion 42 of the breaking portion 40 becomes lowerthan the contact pressure that the cushion pad 5 receives from the endof the front wedge portion 41 and the end of the stay cloth 32.Specifically, a cushion pad having low hardness may be provided in theportion of the front surface of the cushion pad 5 that the end of thefront wedge portion 41 and the end of the stay cloth 32 face.

In the present embodiment, the inner-side stay cloth 32 is provided onthe front wedge portion 41 side only. However, as a modified example, asillustrated in FIG. 23, an outer-side stay cloth 31 thinner than theinner-side stay cloth 32 may be provided in addition to the inner-sidestay cloth 32.

The outer-side stay cloth 31 of this example is sewn to a surface of thebreaking portion 40 close to the end of the lateral wedge portion 42 onthe opposite side of the front wedge portion 41. A J-hook (notillustrated) for locking the rear edge 13 of the side frame 10 is fixedto the end of the stay cloth 31 on the opposite side of the breakingportion 40.

The stay cloth 31 is pulled into the space 7 from the breaking portion40 while passing between the cushion pad 5 and the lateral wedge portion42 and passes between the airbag module 6 and the cushion pad 5 a to befixed by the J-hook (not illustrated) being locked at the rear edge 13of the side frame 10.

In the assembled state of the seat back S1, the center 40 c of thebreaking portion 40 is shifted closer to the outer side in the seatwidth direction which is close to the lateral wedge portion 42 side inwhich the thinner stay cloth 31 is sewn than the position facing thebottom portion 9 a which is the center of the groove 9 and faces theinclined surface 9 e. Thus, the end of the thicker stay cloth 32 and theend of the front wedge portion 41 to which the stay cloth 32 is sewnface the bottom portion 9 a.

As another modified example of an embodiment of the present invention,as illustrated in FIG. 24, the inner-side stay cloth may not be providedand an outer-side stay cloth 31′ only may be provided.

The outer-side stay cloth 31′ of this example has the same configurationas the stay cloth 31 of FIG. 23 except that the outer-side stay cloth31′ is thicker than the stay cloth 31 of FIG. 23.

In the assembled state of the seat back S1, the center 40 c of thebreaking portion 40 is shifted closer to the inner side in the seatwidth direction in which the stay cloth is not attached than theposition facing the bottom portion 9 a which is the center of the groove9 and faces the inclined surface 9 c. Thus, the end of the stay cloth31′ and the end of the lateral wedge portion 42 to which the stay cloth31′ is sewn face the bottom portion 9 a.

As still another modified example of an embodiment of the presentinvention, as illustrated in FIG. 25, the outer-side stay cloth 31′ andan inner-side stay cloth 32′ thinner than the outer-side stay cloth 31′may be provided.

The outer-side stay cloth 31′ of this example has the same configurationas the stay cloth 31′ of FIG. 24. Moreover, the inner-side stay cloth32′ of this example has the same configuration as the stay cloth 32 ofFIG. 23 except that the inner-side stay cloth 32′ is thinner than thestay cloth 32.

In the assembled state of the seat back S1, the center 40 c of thebreaking portion 40 is shifted closer to the inner side in the seatwidth direction which is close to the front wedge portion 41 in whichthe thinner stay cloth 32′ is sewn than the position facing the bottomportion 9 a which is the center of the groove 9 and faces the inclinedsurface 9 c. Thus, the end of the thicker stay cloth 31′ and the end ofthe lateral wedge portion 42 to which the stay cloth 31′ is sewn facethe bottom portion 9 a.

The other configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that ofthe first and second embodiments, and description thereof will not berepeated.

Fourth Embodiment

A vehicle seat S as an airbag module-equipped seat according to stillanother embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 1 to 10.

In the vehicle seat S as the airbag module-equipped seat according tothe present embodiment, the attachment hole 16 of FIG. 2 is a verticallylong approximately rectangular hole having two chamfered rear cornerportions 16 a and two chamfered front corner portions 16 b each providedin the front to back direction of the seat. The attachment hole 16 isformed in a portion of the side plate 11 close to the front edge 12along the inclination of the front edge 12. For example, the length ofthe longer side of the attachment hole 16 is 33 mm and the length of theshorter side is 11 mm.

The radius of curvature of the front corner portion 16 b is larger thanthe radius of curvature of the rear corner portion 16 a. For example,the ratio of the radius of curvature of the front corner portion 16 b tothat of the rear corner portion 16 a is between 2:1 and 3:1. Morespecifically, the radius of curvature of the front corner portion 16 bis 2.5 mm and the radius of curvature of the rear corner portion 16 a is1 mm. Further, the attachment member 50 of FIGS. 3 and 5 to 8 which isfitted into the attachment hole 16 has a chamfered rear corner portion50 a and a chamfered front corner portion 50 b having the shapescorresponding to the rear corner portion 16 a and the front cornerportion 16 b, respectively. For example, the ratio of the radius ofcurvature of the front corner portion 50 b to that of the rear cornerportion 50 a is between 2:1 and 3:1 and corresponds to the ratio of therear corner portion 16 a to the front corner portion 16 b. Morespecifically, the radius of curvature of the front corner portion 50 bis 2.5 mm and the radius of curvature of the rear corner portion 50 a is1 mm.

Since the attachment hole 16 and the attachment member 50 are formed inthis manner, when the attachment member 50 described later is fittedinto the attachment hole 16, the direction of the attachment member 50is restricted and an assembly error is prevented in advance. That is,the front corner portion 16 b and the rear corner portion 16 a functionas a misassembly suppressing portion 80 that suppresses an error inassembly of the attachment member 50 described later to the attachmenthole 16.

Moreover, it has been described that the radius of curvature of thefront corner portion 16 b is larger than that of the rear corner portion16 a. However, the radius of curvature of any one of the corner portionsof the inner surface of the attachment hole 16 may be different fromthat of the other corner portions so that the attachment member 50having a portion having the shape corresponding to the attachment hole16 and facing the inner surface can be assembled with the attachmenthole 16. In this case, the same effect can be obtained.

For example, the corner portion having a different radius of curvature,of the inner surface of the attachment hole 16 may only need to restrictthe attachment direction of the attachment member 50 and may be formedat respective positions in the up and down direction or the obliquedirection of the seat without being limited to the front to backdirection of the seat.

The front wall 53 extends from the flange portion 52 described later bystanding approximately at the right angle (an inclination ofapproximately 85° to approximately 90°). Moreover, the front wall 53 mayextend in steps so that the thickness decreases by approximately 0.5 mmwhenever it advances approximately 5 mm from the flange portion 52toward the rear wall 55 rather than standing and extending in a planarmanner from the flange portion 52.

According to the holding portion 51 having the front wall 53 including aplurality of steps, when the holding portion 51 is inserted into theattachment hole 16, the side having a smaller outer shape and a smallerthickness is first inserted into the attachment hole 16. Thus, theholding portion 51 can be easily inserted than the holding portion 51that is formed vertically from the flange portion 52.

On the other hand, in a state in which the attachment member 50 isattached to the attachment hole 16, since the front wall 53 makescontact with the inner surface of the attachment hole 16 approximatelyvertically, the rotation of the attachment member 50 is suppressed ascompared to when the attachment member 50 is formed to be inclinedtoward the rear wall 55. Thus, it is possible to suppress the attachmentmember 50 from being removed from the attachment hole 16.

An operator broadens the stay cloth 32 in the holding space 59 throughthe slits 55 s and 52 s in a state of bending the stay cloth 32 tocreate a state in which the stay cloth 32 is inserted into theattachment member 50. Moreover, the corner portion 55 a of the rear wall55 adjacent to a portion in which the slit 55 s and the holding space 59cross each other is formed in a chamfered form so that the stay cloth 32is not damaged by rubbing against the corner portion 55 a when the staycloth 32 is received in the holding space 59 through the slit 55 s.

Moreover, since the rear portions of the rear wall 55 and the flangeportion 52 are divided by the slits 55 s and 52 s, the bending of theend of the rear wall 55 close to the slit 55 s toward the front wall 53is allowed, which will be described in detail later.

When the attachment member 50 is in a natural state in which no force isapplied when the attachment member 50 is attached to the attachment hole16, since the projection 60 is in contact with the inner surface of theattachment hole 16, the insertion of the attachment member 50 isobstructed. As described above, since the rear wall 55 is divided by theslit 55 s and the projection 60 is formed in an approximately triangularprism shape, when the attachment member 50 is pushed toward theattachment hole 16, the projection 60 makes contact with the innersurface of the attachment hole 16 and a force directed toward the frontwall 53 is applied to the rear wall 55 so that the rear wall 55 is bent.When the rear wall 55 is bent, the periphery of the attachment member 50has the same size as or the smaller size than the size of the innersurface of the attachment hole 16. Thus, the attachment member 50 can beattached to the attachment hole 16.

A thick portion of the holding portion 51 disposed between theprojection 60 and the flange portion 52 close to the flange portion 52corresponds to a portion that faces an inner surface of an attachmenthole described in the embodiments.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the rear corner portion 50 a is formed in aportion in which the rear wall 55 and the horizontal wall 54 cross eachother and a portion in which the rear wall 55 and the horizontal wall 56cross each other. The front corner portion 50 b is formed in a portionin which the front wall 53 and the horizontal wall 54 cross each otherand a portion in which the front wall 53 and the horizontal wall 56cross each other. These rear corner portions 50 a and front cornerportions 50 b are formed such that the front corner portion 50 b has thelarger radius of curvature than that of the rear corner portion 50 a andform a misassembly suppressing portion 81 between the corner portionsand the inner surface of the attachment hole 16.

Since the rear corner portion 50 a and the front corner portion 50 b areformed in this manner, the attachment of the attachment member 50 to theattachment hole 16 is maintained stably.

Specifically, a large bending moment is applied to the front cornerportion 50 b of the front wall 53 which is at a distance about aposition in which the inner surface of the attachment hole 16 issandwiched between the projection 60 and the flange portion 52. Althoughthe stress applied to the front corner portion 50 b increases with anincrease in the bending moment, since the front corner portion 50 b hasa larger radius of curvature than the rear corner portion 50 a, it ispossible to suppress concentration of stress. Due to this, sincedeformation of the attachment member 50 due to the increased stress canbe suppressed, the state of the attachment member 50 attached to theattachment hole 16 is stabilized.

Moreover, the rear corner portion 50 a, the front corner portion 50 b,the rear wall 55, and the horizontal walls 54 and 56 extend by standingapproximately at the right angle (an inclination of approximately 85° toapproximately 90°) from the flange portion 52. Due to this, it ispossible to mold the holding portion 51 by splitting the mold from twodirections without using a core.

Since the attachment member 50 having such a configuration has the rearcorner portion 50 a and the front corner portion 50 b having differentradii of curvature, it is possible to prevent an error in assemblingwith the attachment hole 16 without impairing the satisfactory moldingproperties obtained by two ways of mold splitting.

In the embodiment, it has been described that an assembly error of theattachment member and the attachment hole is suppressed by formingcorner portions having different radii of curvature on the innersurfaces of the attachment member and the attachment hole to which theattachment member is fitted. However, the present invention is notlimited to this, and the attachment member may only need to beconfigured to be fitted into the attachment hole when the attachmentmember is in one orientation only.

For example, a portion of the attachment member may be formed toprotrude in a predetermined cross-sectional shape and a portion of theinner surface of the attachment hole may be formed to be broadened in across-sectional shape corresponding to the predetermined cross-sectionalshape so that the attachment member is fitted into the attachment holewhen the attachment member is only in a predetermined orientation.Conversely, a depression having a predetermined cross-sectional shapemay be formed in a portion of the attachment member and a protrudingportion having a cross-sectional shape corresponding to thepredetermined cross-sectional shape may be formed in a portion of theattachment hole so that the attachment member is fitted into theattachment hole when the attachment member is only in a predeterminedorientation.

The other configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that ofthe first to third embodiments, and description thereof will not berepeated.

Fifth Embodiment

A vehicle seat S as an airbag module-equipped seat according to stillanother embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 1, 4 to 8, and 26 to 31.

In the vehicle seat S as the airbag module-equipped seat according tothe present embodiment, the rear edge 13 has a large-width portion 13 wthat is formed in a lower end of the rear edge 13 and has a large widthtoward the seat inner side as illustrated in FIG. 26.

As illustrated in FIG. 26, a pair of locking portions 15 is formed onthe side plate 11 of each of the right and left side frames 10, theupper locking portion 15 is formed at a position close to the rear edge13, and the lower locking portion 15 is formed at a position closer tothe front edge 12 than the upper locking portion 15.

As illustrated in FIG. 26, a pair of attachment holes 16 is formed at aposition of the side plate 11 of each of the right and left side frames10 and is located between the front edge 12 and the rear edge 13 of theside plate 11 closer to the front edge 12 as a vertically longrectangular hole extending along the front edge 12.

The upper attachment hole 16 is formed at a position located closer tothe seat front side and the lower side than the upper locking portion 15and closer to the seat upper side than the lower locking portion 15. Thelower attachment hole 16 is formed at a position located closer to theseat front side than the lower locking portion 15.

Moreover, the attachment holes 16 are formed on the front side of thebolt hole 17, the upper attachment hole 16 is formed more on the upperside than the bolt hole 17 and the lower attachment hole 16 is formedmore on the lower side than the bolt hole 17. The bolt hole 17 isdisposed at a position interposed between the upper and lower attachmentholes 16 in the up and down direction.

As illustrated in FIGS. 26 to 29, a step 71 is formed around theattachment hole 16 of the side plate 11 to surround the attachment hole16. With this step 71, a recess 72 is formed such that the region inwhich the attachment hole 16 is formed is depressed deeper toward theinner side in the seat width direction than a module attachment surface11 p of the side plate 11 to which the airbag module 6 is attached.

As illustrated in FIG. 28, the step 71 is formed as a step that is bentinward in the seat width direction so that the portion close to theattachment hole 16 is positioned closer to the inner side in the seatwidth direction than the module attachment surface 11 p.

As illustrated in FIG. 29, the step 71 is formed to extend in anapproximately C-shape that includes a pair of linear upper and lowerportions 71U and 71L that are approximately perpendicular to the frontedge 12 and are approximately parallel to each other and a linear rearportion 71B that connects the ends of the upper and lower portions 71Uand 71L on the opposite side of the front edge 12. The ends of the upperand lower portions 71U and 71L close to the front edge 12 extend untilthe ends cross the front edge 12, and a C-shaped opening sandwichedbetween the upper and lower portions 71U and 71L is connected to thefront edge 12.

Due to this, the recess 72 is formed in such an approximatelytrapezoidal shape as illustrated in FIG. 29.

Since the upper and lower portions 71U and 71L extend until they crossthe front edge 12, the recess 72 extends up to the front edge 12, and asillustrated in FIG. 26, a portion of the front edge 12 that the recess72 crosses has a notched shape.

The step 71 and the recess 72 are provided to each of the pair of upperand lower attachment holes 16. The pair of upper and lower recesses 72are formed independently from each other as illustrated in FIGS. 26 and29. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the pairof upper and lower recesses 72 may be connected together to be formed asan integrated continuous recess.

The distance between the seat rear-side end of the attachment hole 16and the rear portion 71B of the step 71, the distance between the seatupper-side end of the attachment hole 16 and the upper portion 71U ofthe step 71, and the distance between the seat lower-side end of theattachment hole 16 and the lower portion 71L of the step 71 areapproximately the same as or slightly longer than the length of a rearportion 52B, an upper portion 52U, and a lower portion 52L on the seatrear, upper, and lower sides of the flange portion 52 of the attachmentmember 50.

Thus, the rear portion 71B, the upper portion 71U, and the lower portion71L of the step 71 are in contact with the ends of the rear portion 52B,the upper portion 52U, and the lower portion 52L on the seat rear,upper, and lower sides of the flange portion 52 of the attachment member50, respectively. The portions may not be in contact with each other butmay face at a close distance.

Here, the lengths of the rear portion 52B, the upper portion 52U, andthe lower portion 52L mean the length between the outer surface of therear wall 55 and the distal end of the rear portion 52B, the lengthbetween the outer surface of the horizontal wall 54 and the distal endof the upper portion 52U, and the length between the outer surface ofthe horizontal wall 56 and the distal end of the lower portion 52L,respectively.

Moreover, the distance between the seat front-side end of the attachmenthole 16 and the front end of the side plate 11 is larger than the lengthof the front section 52F on the seat front side of the flange portion 52of the attachment member 50.

As illustrated in FIG. 29, other member attachment portions (that is,the bolt hole 17, the locking portion 15, and the like) for attachingmembers other than the attachment member 50 are formed in a regionoutside the recess 72.

The flange portion 52 is formed in a rectangular frame shape in whichthe front section 52F, the upper portion 52U, the rear portion 52B, andthe lower portion 52L protruding toward the seat front, upper, rear, andlower sides are continuous to each other.

Moreover, the thickness of the flange portion 52 is the same as theheight of the step 71 or is smaller than the height of the step 71.

The end of the rear portion 52B of the flange portion 52 is in contactwith the rear portion 71B of the step 71 as illustrated in FIG. 28. Theend of the upper portion 52U of the flange portion 52 is in contact withthe upper portion 71U of the step 71 illustrated in FIG. 29. The end ofthe lower portion 52L of the flange portion 52 is in contact with thelower portion 71L of the step 71 illustrated in FIG. 29. Due to this, itis possible to suppress an assembly error resulting from misalignment ofthe up and down and right and left directions of the attachment member50 in relation to the attachment hole 16.

The respective ends of the rear portion 52B, the upper portion 52U, andthe lower portion 52L of the flange portion 52 may not necessarily be incontact with the rear portion 71B, the upper portion 71U, and the lowerportion 71L of the step 71 as long as an assembly error resulting fromthe misalignment of the up and down and right and left directions of theattachment member 50 is suppressed. The respective ends of the rearportion 52B, the upper portion 52U, and the lower portion 52L of theflange portion 52 may be disposed at positions close to the rear portion71B, the upper portion 71U, and the lower portion 71L of the step 71.

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 28, the flange portion 52 isreceived in the recess 72. Moreover, the thickness of the flange portion52 is the same as the height of the step 71 or smaller than the heightof the step 71. Thus, during assembling, as illustrated in FIG. 28, thepressing surface 52 b positioned at the outermost end of the flangeportion 52 in the seat width direction is positioned on the same surfaceas the module attachment surface 11 p or closer to the inner side in theseat width direction than the module attachment surface 11 p.

Moreover, in the present embodiment, the upper portion 71U and the lowerportion 71L of the step 71 reach the front edge 12 and the recess 72 isconnected to the front edge 12. However, the present invention is notlimited to this, and as illustrated in FIG. 30, a recess 72′ may beformed in the region of the side plate 11 so as not to reach the frontedge 12 and the rear edge 13.

In this case, the distances to the attachment hole 16 from a frontsection 71F′, an upper portion 71U′, a rear portion 71B′, and a lowerportion 71L′ of the step 71′ are approximately the same as or slightlylarger than the lengths of the front section 52F, the upper portion 52U,the rear portion 52B, and the lower portion 52L on the seat front,upper, rear, and lower sides of the flange portion 52 of the attachmentmember 50, respectively. Thus, an assembly error resulting from amisalignment of the attachment directions of the attachment member 50can be suppressed.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 31, a recess 6 e that is depressedoutward in the seat width direction may be formed at a position of theretainer 6 c of the airbag module 6 facing the recess 72.

The other configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that ofthe first to fourth embodiments, and description thereof will not berepeated.

Sixth Embodiment

A vehicle seat S as an airbag module-equipped seat according to stillanother embodiment of the present invention will be described withreference to FIGS. 1, 5, 8, 9, and 32 to 45.

In the vehicle seat S as the airbag module-equipped seat according tothe present embodiment, the cushion pad 5 is a member that forms anouter shape of the seat and is capable of supporting an occupantelastically. The cushion pad 5 is formed by bonding a flat planar member5L formed of a nonwoven fabric or the like to a rear surface of a foamedmolded body 5F of a resin foam such as a polyurethane foam or the like.

As illustrated in FIGS. 33 and 34, the cushion pad 5 includes a frontpad portion 5A disposed on the front side of the seat back frame 1 andlateral pad portions 5B disposed on the lateral sides of the side frame10 to be integrated with the front pad portion 5A. An opening 8 throughwhich the stay cloth 32 is inserted is formed in the lateral pad portion5B, and this opening 8 forms a space 7 for storing the airbag module 6.

The front pad portion 5A has an approximately planar shape and forms theouter shape of the front surface of the seat back S1 of FIG. 1. Thefront pad portion 5A includes a seating portion 5 c that is positionedat the center in the seat width direction to support the back of theupper body of an occupant and bank portions 5 d that are positioned onboth sides in the seat width direction of the seating portion 5 c tosupport the sides of the upper body of the occupant.

As illustrated in FIGS. 33 and 34, the bank portion 5 d protrudes towardthe seat front outer side further than the seating portion 5 c so thatan end of the bank portion 5 d on the opposite side of the seatingportion 5 c is positioned closer to the seat front side than the endclose to the seating portion 5 c.

A suspension groove 5 m for suspending and connecting a wire 41 mattached to the rear surface of the trim cover 4 is formed in a portiondisposed above the center of the seating portion 5 c along the seatwidth direction, and a suspension wire (not illustrated) is provided inthe suspension groove 5 m. Moreover, a suspension groove 5 n forsuspending and connecting wires 41 n 1 to 41 n 3 attached to the rearsurface of the trim cover 4 is formed at the boundary between theseating portion 5 c and the bank portion 5 d along the up and downdirection of the seat, and a suspension wire (not illustrated) isprovided in the suspension groove 5 n.

As illustrated in FIGS. 33 and 39, the portion of the planar member 5Lthat forms the seating portion 5 c is configured as an approximatelyflat surface to make contact with the bridging member 25 providedbetween the side frames 10.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 39, suspension grooves 5 p 1 and 5 p 2for suspending and connecting wires 43 m 1 and 43 m 2 are formed in theback surface of the planar member 5L of the front pad portion 5A of thecushion pad 5, and a suspension wire (not illustrated) is provided inthe suspension grooves 5 p 1 and 5 p 2.

The suspension grooves 5 p 1 and 5 p 2 extend linearly along the seatwidth direction and are provided discontinuously and independently fromeach other at a predetermined interval to be placed on the same line.

The suspension grooves 5 p 1 and 5 p 2 are formed at positions close tothe upper end of the attachment position of the airbag module 6 andclose to the upper end of the opening 8 in the up and down direction ofthe seat. For example, the suspension grooves 5 p 1 and 5 p 2 are formedat positions slightly below the upper end of the attachment position ofthe airbag module 6 and slightly below the upper end of the opening 8.

As illustrated in FIG. 33, the end of the portion of the planar member5L that forms the bank portion 5 d, disposed closer to the center of theseat is continuous to the portion of the planar member 5L that forms theseating portion 5 c. The portion of the planar member 5L that forms thebank portion 5 d includes a front inclined portion 5 g that extendsobliquely toward the front outer side from the end close to the seatcentral side while being bent toward the seat front outer side and alateral extension portion 5 h that extends from the front end of thefront inclined portion 5 g toward the seat lateral side while being benttoward the seat outer side.

The boundary portion between the front inclined portion 5 g and thelateral extension portion 5 h are bent to make contact with a seatinner-side end of the front edge 12 of the side frame 10 duringassembling.

An outer end in the seat width direction of the bank portion 5 d of thefront pad portion 5A is bent toward the seat rear side and is continuousto the lateral pad portion 5B that forms the outer shape of the seatlateral section.

The lateral pad portion 5B illustrated in FIGS. 33 and 34 includes alateral portion 5 i that forms the outer shape of the lateral section ofthe seat back S1 and a rear portion 5 j that extends from the seat rearend of the lateral portion 5 i toward the seat inner side.

A space 7 formed as an approximately rectangular prism-shapedthrough-hole that passes through the lateral portion 5 i in the seatwidth direction along the outer shape of the airbag module 6 is formedin the lateral portion 5 i. The space 7 is used for storing the airbagmodule 6 and has an opening 8 that is open toward the outer side in theseat width direction.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 33, the space 7 is also used as apassage through which the stay cloth 32 is pulled from the breakingportion 40 of the trim cover 4 toward the side frame 10.

In the present embodiment, although the front pad portion 5A and thelateral pad portion 5B are formed as a continuous integral form, thepresent invention is not limited to this, and the front pad portion 5Aand the lateral pad portion 5B may be configured as separate members.

As illustrated in FIG. 33, the lateral pad portion 5B is disposed sothat the portion of the planar member 5L that forms the rear portion 5 jmakes contact with the seat rear-side surface of the airbag module 6.

A portion of a seat inner-side end of the rear portion 5 j of thelateral pad portion 5B disposed close to the seat front inner side isobliquely notched and has an inclined surface 5 k inclined so that theseat inner-side end is positioned on the rear side and the seatouter-side end is positioned on the front side.

The trim cover 4 is formed of a well-known material, and as illustratedin FIGS. 33 and 35, is sewn in a bag form in which an opening is formedin the seat lower side.

As illustrated in FIG. 35, the trim cover 4 is formed as a bag-shapedmember of which the seat upper side is closed and the seat lower side isopen. A pair of pillar insertion holes 45 for inserting a headrestpillar (not illustrated) along the seat width direction is formed in thebag portion on the upper side of the trim cover 4.

The front wedge portion 41 includes a seating wedge portion 41 c thatcovers the seating portion 5 c and a bank portion wedge portion 41 dthat covers the bank portion 5 d, and the seating wedge portion 41 c andthe bank portion wedge portion 41 d are sewn together at a sewn portion46.

As illustrated in FIG. 35, the wire 41 m is provided on the rear surfaceof the front wedge portion 41 along the seat width direction at aposition of approximately ⅓ of the height of the front pad portion 5A ofthe cushion pad 5 from the upper end of the front pad portion 5A. Thewire 41 m is formed of a linear wire and is used for suspension by beingconnected to a suspension wire (not illustrated) in the suspensiongroove 5 m of the front pad portion 5A by a C-ring.

Moreover, the wires 41 n 1, 41 n 2, and 41 n 3 are provided in a portionof the sewn portion 46 of the seating wedge portion 41 c and the bankportion wedge portion 41 d that covers the bank portion 5 d, disposedcloser to the bank portion wedge portion 41 d to extend along the sewnportion 46. The wires 41 n 1, 41 n 2, and 41 n 3 are formed of linearwires and are disposed at positions closer to the seat lower side thanthe wire 41 m at an interval to be placed on the same line. The wires 41n 1, 41 n 2, and 41 n 3 are disposed discontinuously and independentlyfrom each other. The wires 41 n 1, 41 n 2, and 41 n 3 are used forsuspension by being connected to a suspension wire (not illustrated) inthe suspension groove 5 n of the front pad portion 5A by a C-ring.

Moreover, a pair of sets of right and left wires 41 n 1, 41 n 2, and 41n 3 are provided at positions corresponding to the pair of right andleft suspension grooves 5 n of the front pad portion 5A.

The uppermost wire 41 n 1 is disposed closer to the seat upper side thanthe upper attachment hole 16 when the vehicle seat S is assembled andthe lowermost wire 41 n 3 is disposed closer to the seat lower side thanthe lower attachment hole 16 when the vehicle seat S is assembled.

As illustrated in FIGS. 33 and 35, the sewn portion 44 of the frontwedge portion 41 and the lateral wedge portion 42 is disposed at aposition facing the protruding apex of the bank portion 5 d of FIG. 33,and the breaking portion 40 is formed along the sewn portion 44. In thebreaking portion 40, the ends of the front wedge portion 41 and thelateral wedge portion 42 are sewn together so that the ends can bebroken with tensile force generated by inflation of the airbag whilemaintaining strength suitable for general usage.

As illustrated in FIG. 39, suspension wires 43 m 1 and 43 m 2 are fixedto the rear surface of the rear wedge portion 43 of the trim cover 4 ata position of approximately ¼ to ⅓ of the height of the rear wedgeportion 43 from the upper end of the rear wedge portion 43. The wires 43m 1 and 43 m 2 extend linearly along the seat width direction and areprovided discontinuously and independently from each other at apredetermined interval to be placed on the same line.

The wires 43 m 1 and 43 m 2 are provided at positions located close tothe upper end of the attachment position of the airbag module 6 andclose to the upper end of the opening 8. For example, the wires 43 m 1and 43 m 2 are provided at positions slightly below the upper end of theattachment position of the airbag module 6 and slightly below the upperend of the opening 8.

As illustrated in FIG. 35, the stay cloth 32 is sewn together in thebreaking portion 40.

As illustrated in FIG. 35, the stay cloth 32 is formed of anapproximately almond-shaped or an approximately rugby ball-shaped clothin which a pair of circular arcs face each other. A pair of attachmentportions 36 for attachment of the trim plate 37 that protrudes in arectangular form is formed on both sides of the side 35 facing thebreaking portion 40.

The stay cloth 32 has a different color (having different lightness,saturation, or hue) from the color of a seat inner-side surface of theside plate 11 of the side frame 10. In particular, the stay cloth 32preferably has a color having different lightness from the color of theseat inner-side surface of the side plate 11. Since the side plate 11 isoften formed of a steel plate having the color silver or brownishsilver, the stay cloth 32 has the color related to white or the colorrelated to yellow (for example, the color white).

Moreover, the holding portion 51 may have the fluorescent color and maybe molded using a resin mixed with a luminous pigment to exhibit anafterglow effect.

In the present embodiment, the inner-side stay cloth 32 only is providedas a guide member for guiding the deployment direction of the airbag 6b. However, an outer-side stay cloth (not illustrated) that extends fromthe seat rear side toward the seat inner side along a surface of thebreaking portion 40 disposed closer to the outer side and the rear sidein the seat width direction of the airbag module 6 to be locked at therear edge 13 of the side frame 10 may also be provided.

The holding portion 51 has a different color (having differentlightness, saturation, or hue) from the color of a seat inner-sidesurface of the side plate 11 of the side frame 10. In particular, theholding portion 51 preferably has a color having different lightnessfrom the color of the seat inner-side surface of the side plate 11.Since the side plate 11 is often formed of a steel plate having thecolor silver or brownish silver, the holding portion 51 has the colorrelated to white or the color related to yellow (for example, the colorwhite).

Moreover, the holding portion 51 may have the fluorescent color and maybe molded using a resin mixed with a luminous pigment to exhibit anafterglow effect.

In the present embodiment, an example of the side frame 10 having theside plate 11 having a flat plate shape has been described. However, thepresent invention is not limited to this, and for example, asillustrated in FIG. 36, the side plate 11 may have a step 11 s as aconvex portion provided to surround the seat upper, lower, and rearsides of the attachment hole 16.

The step 11 s is formed as a step provided such that only the peripheryof the attachment hole 16 protrudes toward the seat inner side and isformed continuously in an approximately C-shape that surrounds the seatupper, lower, and rear sides of the attachment hole 16.

The step 11 s is not limited to the approximately C-shape that surroundsthe seat upper, lower, and rear sides of the attachment hole 16 but mayextend linearly or in a curved form in the up and down direction of theseat.

Since the step 11 s is provided in this manner, the attachment member 50can be disposed deeper on the inner side in the seat width direction andcan be easily observed from the back surface side of the seat.

Next, the procedure of a method of assembling the seat back S1 of thevehicle seat S as the airbag module-equipped seat of the presentembodiment will be described.

As illustrated in FIG. 35, the stay cloth 32 is sewn in advance to thetrim cover 4 in the breaking portion 40 of the sewn portion 44 betweenthe front wedge portion 41 and the lateral wedge portion 42 on thevehicle door side, and the trim plates 37 are fixed to two attachmentportions 36 formed in the stay cloth 32.

First, the pair of trim plates 37 are attached to the attachment member50.

The connection between the trim plate 37 and the attachment member 50 isperformed in the following procedure.

As illustrated in FIG. 35, the attachment portion 36 is formed in astrip form. One of the two sides of the strip-shaped portion of theattachment portion 36 is inserted into the slits 55 s and 52 s so thatthe attachment portion 36 is inserted into the rear space 59 b. As aresult, a state in which the half of the attachment portion 36 isinserted into the half region of the rear space 59 b of FIG. 5 dividedby the slits 55 s and 52 s is created. In this case, the trim plate 37is positioned close to the rear wall 55 and the end of the attachmentportion 36 is positioned close to the front wall 53.

The other one of the two sides of the strip-shaped portion of theattachment portion 36 is also inserted into the rear space 59 b throughthe slits 55 s and 52 s so that the attachment portion 36 passes throughthe rear space 59 b of FIG. 5.

Subsequently, the trim plate 37 is inverted by 180°, the end of theattachment portion 36 is bent toward the front space 59 a of FIG. 5, thetrim plate 37 is inserted into the front space 59 a from the gap betweenthe partition wall 58 and the top wall 57, and the trim plate 37 ispushed until the distal end of the trim plate 37 makes contact with thebridge portion 61. In this way, connection of the stay cloth 32 and theattachment member 50 is completed.

As illustrated in FIG. 32, the bridging members 25 are arranged in theseat back frame 1. Subsequently, the front pad portion 5A is disposed onthe front surface of the seat back frame 1 and the bridging members 25,and the cushion pad 5 is attached to the seat back frame 1 so that therear portion 5 j of the lateral pad portion 5B makes contact with therear edge 13 of the side frame 10.

Next, the procedure of covering the trim cover 4 with the cushion pad 5will be described.

An upper covering procedure of covering the upper portion of the cushionpad 5 with the upper portion of the trim cover 4 is performed.

In the upper covering procedure, the trim cover 4 is turned inside outas illustrated in FIG. 35 and covers the cushion pad 5 from the upperend side as illustrated in FIG. 37.

FIG. 35 illustrates a state in which the upper end of the trim cover 4is put on the upper end surface of the cushion pad.

As illustrated in FIG. 35, the upper end of the trim cover 4 is put onthe upper end surface of the cushion pad. The pillar insertion holes 45formed in the upper portion of the trim cover 4 are aligned with theheadrest pillar holes (not illustrated) formed in the upper end surfaceof the cushion pad 5. In this state, pillar guides 47 for the headrestpillar illustrated in FIG. 41 are fitted into the pillar insertion holes45 and the holes (not illustrated) on the upper end surface of thecushion pad 5. In this way, the upper portion of the trim cover 4 isaligned and fixed to the cushion pad 5.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 38, the trim cover 4 is pulleddownward so that a portion of the trim cover 4 disposed above the wire41 m is covered with the cushion pad 5. The wire 41 m is connected to asuspension wire (not illustrated) provided in the suspension groove 5 mby a C-ring (not illustrated) to create a suspended state.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 39, on the back surface side of theseat, the back surface of the cushion pad 5 and the trim cover 4 areconnected to create a suspended state.

On the back surface side of the seat, the wires 43 m 1 and 43 m 2 areconnected to suspension wires (not illustrated) provided in thesuspension grooves 5 p 1 and 5 p 2, respectively, by a C-ring (notillustrated) to create a suspended state.

The trim cover 4 is pulled further downward and the right and left wires41 n 1 provided on the uppermost side among the wires 41 n 1, 41 n 2,and 41 n 3 are connected to wires (not illustrated) provided in theright and left suspension grooves 5 n to create a suspended state.

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 40, the position of the lower endof the trim cover 4 is slightly above the upper attachment hole 16.

When the suspended state is created on the front surface side and theback surface side of the seat at the position near the upper end of theopening 8, a larger portion of the opening 8 excluding the upper end isexposed from the trim cover 4 as illustrated in FIG. 40. In this case,the upper and lower attachment holes 16 are also exposed from the trimcover 4.

In this way, the upper covering procedure is completed.

Next, a guide member connecting procedure of connecting the stay cloth32 to the side frame 10 is performed.

In the guide member connecting procedure, first, an upper lockingprocedure is performed to fit the upper attachment member 50 to theupper attachment hole 16 so that the upper portion of the end of thestay cloth 32 is connected to the side frame 10 as illustrated in FIG.40.

Subsequently, a center covering procedure is performed to pull the trimcover 4 further downward to the position illustrated in FIG. 41 toconnect the right and left wires 41 n 2 provided at the center among thewires 41 n 1, 41 n 2, and 41 n 3 to wires (not illustrated) provided inthe right and left suspension groove 5 n to create a suspended state.

In this case, as illustrated in FIGS. 41 and 42, the position of thelower end of the trim cover 4 is slightly above the lower attachmenthole 16. The lower attachment hole 16 is exposed from the trim cover 4and the lowest wire 41 n 3 is not yet in a suspended state.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 42, the lower attachment member 50is fitted into the lower attachment hole 16 and the lower portion of theend of the stay cloth 32 is connected to the side frame 10.

After that, an airbag module attachment procedure is performed to attachthe airbag module 6 to the side frame 10.

In this procedure, the airbag module 6 is inserted, from the upper endside of the seat, into a region surrounded by the edge of a portion ofthe opening 8 exposed from the trim cover 4 and the lower end of aportion of the lateral wedge portion 42 of the trim cover 4 covering thelateral portion 5 i of the lateral pad portion 5B at that point in timeas illustrated in FIG. 42. The airbag module 6 is slid toward the seatupper side so that the airbag module 6 is disposed in the space 7 asillustrated in FIG. 43. In this case, the bolt 18 attached in advance tothe airbag module 6 is inserted through the bolt hole 17.

Subsequently, a procedure of fixing the airbag module 6 to the sideframe 10 is performed by fastening the bolt 18 with the nut 19 from theseat inner side of the side plate 11.

In this procedure, before the nut 19 is fastened, the attachment stateof the stay cloth 32 and the attachment member 50 is observed with thenaked eyes.

In a stage in which the airbag module 6 is inserted into the space 7formed by the opening 8 and the side plate 11 of the side frame 10, whenseen in the direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. 33 from the backsurface side of the seat S, a rear lower-side portion of the seatinner-side surface of the side plate 11 of the side frame 10 is exposedfrom the rear wedge portion 43 and appears as illustrated in FIG. 44.

The upper and lower attachment holes 16 are provided at positions closeto the bolt hole 17, located below the side plate 11 and above thelarge-width portion 13 w. Thus, in a state in which the seat back frame1 and the cushion pad 5 are covered with the trim cover 4 up to theposition at which the center wire 41 n 2 is suspended, the attachmentmember and the stay cloth can be observed easily with the naked eyesfrom the back surface side of the seat.

Moreover, since the attachment member 50 and the stay cloth 32 are whitewhich is a color different from that of the side plate 11, whether theattachment member 50 is attached to the upper and lower attachment holes16 in a state in which the end of the stay cloth 32 is connected can bechecked easily with the naked eyes.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 33, since the seat inner-side end ofthe rear portion 5 j of the lateral pad portion 5B has the inclinedsurface 5 k, the region surrounded by the side plate 11 and the planarmember 5L on the back surface of the front pad portion 5A can be easilyobserved from the back surface of the seat.

Moreover, as illustrated in FIG. 44, since the inclined surface 5 k hasan abrupt slope only in the portion near the attachment hole 16 and thebolt 18, the attachment state of the attachment member 50 and the staycloth 32 and the bolt 18 can be easily observed from the back surface.

Since the holding portion 51 and the stay cloth 32 have colors differentfrom the color of the seat inner-side surface of the side plate 11, anarrow region surrounded by the side plate 11 and the planar member 5Lon the back surface of the front pad portion 5A can be easily observed.

If the attachment member 50 and the stay cloth 32 are attachedappropriately, the bolt 18 is fastened with the nut 19 to complete theprocedure of fixing the airbag module 6 to the side frame 10.

Subsequently, the trim cover 4 is pulled further downward to connect theright and left wire 41 n 3 provided on the lowermost side among thewires 41 n 1, 41 n 2, and 41 n 3 to wires (not illustrated) provided inthe right and left suspension grooves 5 n to create a suspended state.After that, a lower surface treatment is performed to obtain the seatback S1 illustrated in FIG. 1 to complete the procedure of a method ofassembling the seat back S1 of the vehicle seat S.

In the embodiment, although an example in which the slit-less trim cover4 having no slit is used has been described, the present invention isnot limited to this. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 45, a slit 43s′ may be formed along the sewn portion between a lateral wedge portion42′ and a rear wedge portion 43′ on the side on which the airbag module6 is mounted.

In the example of FIG. 45, the slit 43 s′ is formed in a portion of thesewn portion between the lateral wedge portion 42′ and the rear wedgeportion 43′ extending from the lower end to a position of approximately⅔ of the height in the up and down direction of the seat. A fastener 43f′ is provided along the slit 43 s′ so that the slit 43 s′ can be openedand closed by the fastener 43 f′.

The other configuration of FIG. 45 is the same as that of FIGS. 1, 5, 8,9, 32 to 35, and 37 to 44, and description thereof will not be repeated.

The other configuration of the present embodiment is the same as that ofthe first to fifth embodiments, and description thereof will not berepeated.

TABLE OF REFERENCE NUMERALS S vehicle seat S1 seat back S2 seatingportion S3 headrest F seat frame  1 seat back frame  2 seating frame  3reclining mechanism  4 trim cover  5, 5a cushion pad  6 airbag module 6a inflator  6b airbag  6c retainer  6d wrapping material  7 space  8opening 10 side frame 11 side plate 12 front edge 13 rear edge 15, 75locking portion 16 attachment hole 18 bolt 21 upper frame 22 lower frame23 pillar supporting portion 25 bridging member 31, 32 stay cloth 33locking hook 35 side 36 attachment portion 37 trim plate 40 breakingportion 41 front wedge portion 41n1 wire, connection memeber, upperconnecting member 41n2 wire, connecting member 41n3 wire, connectingmember, lower connecting member 42 lateral wedge portion 43 rear wedgeportion 44 sewn portion 47 pillar guide, positioning member 50, 70attachment member, upper attachment member, lower attachment member 51,78 holding portion 52, 72a, 72b flange portion, protruding portion 52acontacting surface 52b pressing surface 52c curved surface 52s, 55s slit53 front wall, restricting portion 54 horizontal wall, restrictingportion upper wall, lower wall 55 rear wall, restricting portion 56horizontal wall, restricting portion, upper wall, lower wall 57 top wall57a projection, stopper projection 60, 75a, 76 projection 58 partitionwall 59 holding space 59a front space, second space 59a1 opening ofsecond space 59b rear space, first space 59b1, 59b2 opening of firstspace 59c passage 60a, 60b surface 61 bridge portion, connecting portion72b flange portion 73 holding wall 74 contacting wall 74a inner bulgingportion 75a, 76 projection 77 hinge portion

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for assembling an airbagmodule-equipped seat having a seat back frame, a side frame that extendsalong a side portion of the seat, a cushion pad mounted on the seat backframe, a trim cover that covers the cushion pad, and an airbag module tobe attached to the side frame, the method comprising: connecting a guidemember, configured to guide a deployment direction of the airbag moduleand having one end and another end, to the side frame of the seat byconnecting the other end of the guide member to the side frame, whereinthe one end is fixed to a breaking portion of the trim cover that isconfigured to be more fragile than other portions of the trim cover;attaching the airbag module to the side frame after connecting the guidemember to the side frame.
 2. The method for assembling the airbagmodule-equipped seat according to claim 1, wherein: connecting the guidemember to the side frame includes connecting an attachment member,attached to the other end of the guide member, to the side frame.
 3. Themethod for assembling the airbag module-equipped seat according to claim2, wherein: attaching the airbag module to the side frame includes:inserting the airbag module into an opening that is provided at a sidesurface of the cushion pad and that faces the attachment member in aseat width direction and disposing the airbag module in a space in theopening; and fixing the airbag module inserted into the opening to theside frame.
 4. The method for assembling the airbag module-equipped seataccording to claim 1, further comprising: before connecting the guidemember to the side frame, covering an upper portion of the cushion padwith a part of the trim cover.
 5. The method for assembling the airbagmodule-equipped seat according to claim 4, wherein: covering the upperportion of the cushion pad includes connecting the trim cover to aseating surface of the cushion pad via an upper connecting member,wherein the upper connecting member is arranged above an upperattachment member that is attached to an upper portion of the other endof the guide member; and the method further comprises, after attachingthe airbag module to the side frame, connecting the trim cover to theseating surface of the cushion pad via a lower connecting member,wherein the lower connecting member is arranged below a lower attachmentmember that is attached to a lower portion of the other end of the guidemember.
 6. The method for assembling the airbag module-equipped seataccording to claim 5, wherein: connecting the guide member to the sideframe includes: locking the upper attachment member to the side frame;covering a central portion of the cushion pad with the trim cover,wherein the central portion is a portion that is lower than the upperportion of the cushion pad and higher than a position where the lowerattachment member is attached to the side frame; and locking the lowerattachment member to the side frame.
 7. The method for assembling theairbag module-equipped seat according to claim 6, further comprising:before locking the upper attachment member to the side frame,positioning the cushion pad and the trim cover relative to each otherusing a positioning member that is provided at a position higher thanthe upper attachment member.
 8. The method for assembling the airbagmodule-equipped seat according to claim 6, wherein: locking the upperattachment member to the side frame includes locking the upperattachment member to a position in the side frame where at least aportion of the upper attachment member is viewable from a back side ofthe seat when a back surface of a lower portion of the cushion pad isnot covered with the trim cover; locking the lower attachment member tothe side frame includes locking the lower attachment member to aposition in the side frame where at least a portion of the lowerattachment member is viewable from the back side of the seat when theback surface of the lower portion of the cushion pad is not covered withthe trim cover; and covering the central portion of the cushion padincludes covering the central portion with the trim cover such that theupper attachment member and the lower attachment member are not coveredwith the trim cover from the back side of the seat.
 9. The method forassembling the airbag module-equipped seat according to claim 6,wherein: covering the upper portion of the cushion pad includes coveringthe upper portion of the cushion pad with a slit-less trim cover thathas no slit; and covering the central portion of the cushion padincludes covering the central portion of the cushion pad with aslit-less trim cover that has no slit.
 10. An airbag module-equippedseat comprising: a seat back frame that comprises a side frame thatextends along a side portion of the seat; a cushion pad that is mountedon the seat back frame; an airbag module configured to store an airbagtherein that is attached to the side frame; a trim cover that covers thecushion pad; and a guide member that guides a deployment direction ofthe airbag module, wherein one end of the guide member is fixed to abreaking portion of the trim cover that is configured to be more fragilethan other portions of the trim cover, and another end of the guidemember is connected to the side frame; an upper attachment member thatis attached to an upper portion of the other end of the guide member; alower attachment member that is attached to a lower portion of the otherend of the guide member; and connecting members that are disposeddiscontinuously from each other along a seat up-to-down direction andconnect the trim cover to a seating surface of the cushion pad; wherein:the cushion pad comprises an opening that is provided at a side surfaceof the cushion pad and into which the airbag module is inserted; theconnecting members comprise at least an upper connecting member that isdisposed above the upper attachment member and a lower connecting memberthat is disposed below the lower attachment member; and each of theupper connecting member and the lower connecting member is formedindependently from other parts of the connecting members.
 11. The airbagmodule-equipped seat according to claim 10, wherein the trim covercomprises a slit-less trim cover that has no slit.
 12. The airbagmodule-equipped seat according to claim 10, wherein: the upperattachment member and the lower attachment member are attached to theside frame; and the opening is formed at a position that faces the upperattachment member and the lower attachment member in a seat widthdirection.
 13. The airbag module-equipped seat according to claim 10,wherein: the upper attachment member and the lower attachment member aredisposed in a region surrounded by a back surface of a lower portion ofthe cushion pad and an inner surface of the side frame in a state whereat least a portion of each of the upper attachment member and the lowerattachment member is viewable from a back side of the seat when the backsurface of the lower portion of the cushion pad is not covered with thetrim cover.